Philippines Should Work With China on Stalled Gas Project, Tycoon Says
A Filipino businessman said a partnership with China could be an option in developing a new gas field in an area of the South China Sea where the two countries have competing maritime claims.
PXP Energy Corp. “My personal view is that we need to engage with China,” Chairman Manuel Pangilinan told reporters on Wednesday. “Look at what Mark Carney has done for Canada.”
Manila-listed PXP’s exploration work at Reed Bank in the South China Sea has been on hold for years due to persistent tensions between Manila and Beijing that have led to clashes between their ships over the resource-rich waterway.
PXP needs expertise and capital to continue Reed Bank’s development, Pangilinan said. He said the company estimated in 2014 that it would cost $6 billion to develop it, but PXP couldn’t afford it.
“You have to partner with someone who has experience, whether it’s China or someone else,” he said. “This is a very complicated business.”
Pangilinan said he last met with representatives of state-owned China National Offshore Oil Co. in 2019, when former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s administration was pushing for joint oil and gas development in the South China Sea as part of a broader effort to forge closer economic ties.
The Southeast Asian country is struggling to secure energy supplies as its main Malampaya gas field is nearly depleted. Although the discovery of a new gas resource in this region last month will help expand the shrinking field, the country will still need more energy sources to meet its growing energy demand.
Pangilinan said his position on the issue has been conveyed to the Philippine government and that it has the final say. “That’s up to them, because it all depends on geopolitics. And that’s beyond our pay level,” he added.
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to the text.
