Is There Hope For More Viable Philippine Oil Fields?
The recent oil production in Palawan, in the vicinity of South China Sea may not be comparable to other Oil fields in the world but its enough proof that the Philippines is perhaps a true “Pearl of the Orient Seas“. For a long time, we have been dependent with OPEC and other oil-producing countries and perhaps soon, we should be at least self-sufficient on oil requirements, and this could lead to a progressive Philippines.
With reserves estimated to only just about 20 million barrels, current production is at 20 thousand barrels a day, or about 6% of the daily Philippine oil requirement of 300 thousand barrels a day. For capitalists, this is not an attractive investment as cost of production is high. One drilling equipment could cost to as much as U$100,000 a day. At the current price of 80USD per barrel, daily production would translate to about US$1.6M – a small amount compared to productions in the Middle East where one oil field could choke up millions of barrel a day.
The Palawan Light Medium Crude Oil – the name used to identify the oil extracted some 2.2 kilometers from the seabed in Galoc, about 60 kilometers northwest of Palawan, is already suitable for direct refining, thus the oil refineries in Batangas can process it without the need of any special pre-refining process. This oil field actually was discovered before, but at that time, it was not viable for business. Problems will definitely arise if the global oil price continue to drop below USD80 a barrel.
Are we seeing some hope in the near future? The South China Sea has been tagged as rich with fossil fuels – probably the very reason why many Asian countries are claiming several territories around it. Many also believed that Tawi-Tawi and the Sulu Archipelago are oil-rich areas, unfortunately, with the place torn in war and violence for several decades, it is hard to tell when will progress set foot in these seemingly God-forsaken places.
Perhaps it is time our Muslim and Christian brothers down south join hands and ensure the future of their children are brighter. Will the day come when guns are laid down and violence has no place in the hearts and minds of our brethren and give chance to progress? Seems to be a dream in wonderland.
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Hmm. I you’re getting more and more political lately. Hehehe. Nice post. I don’t think there is any hope, though.
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@Bendz, couldn’t help it – although we have all angst and complains against the govt and politics, it will not take us to where we all want to go. At times, as citizens we still need each others’ cooperation and “hope” that someday we taste progress. But then again, you’re right, probably not in our lifetime we would see the progress we are seeking. Unless all politicians have the minds of a Bendz.
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Hi B,
I think this is a wake up call for all of us to start looking towards alternative means of producing energy that is both healthy and renewable. We have so many to look to and a country that would best lead as an example is Brazil as they become less dependent on oil every year till they become oil independent
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RayX Replies:
April 9th, 2009 at 4:23 am
Money rules. Our dependency on fossil fuel will endure until no more oil or gas can be retrieved up to the last droplet in our sub-surface.Think of the many high paying jobs in the enrgy sector that will be lost. Hahahaha :p
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Oil, however little, is always good news. That, if we won’t again shoot our own feet in process.
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I really think that there are more oil areas around the Philippines that are yet to be explored. We just don’t have the right resources for this venture.
Palawan is also near the disputed Spratleys, so I really think that there’s more.
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our government must make a move for this. they should find some other possible oil resources inside the country and continue to produce more…..
………..there’s still a hope……….
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A good question, and I can provide a good answer – YES. Yes, there will always hope and this hope is all that we can depend as of now.
But we really need is political will. We have a lot of natural resources but we cannot use them but unfortunately, we do not maximize them.
And yes, religion plays a very important role.
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@Gem – I have to agree with you that there could be more oil around the Philippines. Call me pessimists but with the government atmosphere here in our land, the politicians will only benefit from it. Sad but true.
snow
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Europe has North Sea
The America has Gulf of Mexico
The Philippines will have Palawan and Sulu
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