Philippines Offers Oil, Gas Exploration Area in Waters Disputed with China

"From the point of view of the Philippines, it is not a disputed area," Oca said. "Area 7 is within the Philippines' exclusive economic zone."

China, the Philippines and Vietnam, along with Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei, all claim parts of the South China Sea.

It was in the Reed Bank where a 2011 confrontation between Chinese navy vessels and a survey ship contracted by London-listed Forum Energy Plc - a unit of Philippine exploration firm Philex Petroleum Corp - led to a halt in oil and gas exploration work in the Sampaguita block.

Area 7, according to the Philippines' Department of Energy (DOE), holds an estimated resource potential of 165 million barrels of oil and about 3.5 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of natural gas. Water depths range between 800 and 1,700 meters.

"As we live within international laws, we seek all diplomatic recourse to assert our claims to the areas in the West Philippine Sea," Energy Secretary Carlos Jericho Petilla told potential investors in a speech at the launch of the 5th Philippine Energy Contracting Round.

The Philippines is also offering 15 blocks for coal exploration, which Petilla said are all within the country's territory.

Most of the oil and gas exploration blocks are located near the Philippines' main island of Luzon, while most of the coal blocks are in southern Philippine provinces. Ten of the 11 oil and gas block on offer are offshore.


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