FEC Resources Inc (FECOF)

[hain]

US agency says bulk of Spratlys' gas reserves in Recto Bank

By: Euan Paulo C. Anonuevo, InterAksyon.com
February 8, 2013 3:18 PM


InterAksyon.com


MANILA - The Recto Bank likely holds the only source of significant gas resources in the disputed area of the West Philippine Sea, according to a US agency.

According to the US Energy Information Agency (EIA), its estimates show that the region around the Spratly Islands do not have oil reserves.

The same report cited industry sources that "suggest less than 100 billion cubic feet in currently economically viable natural gas reserves exist in surrounding fields."

The EIA report, however, noted the difficulty in determining the volume of oil and gas resources in the West Philippine Sea as a result of under-exploration and territorial conflicts.

As such, the Spratly Islands may contain significant deposits of undiscovered resources, which the US Geological Survey estimates to be between 0.8 and 5.4 (mean 2.5) billion barrels of oil and between 7.6 and 55.1 (mean 25.5) trillion cubic feet of natural gas.

"Evidence suggests that most of these resources are likely located in the contested Reed Bank at the northeast end of the Spratlys," EIA said. Reed Bank is known in the Philippines as Recto Bank.

EIA is an independent statistical agency of the US Department of Energy.

Studies conducted by Forum Energy Plc earlier showed that the Sampaguita field in the Recto Bank could be on a par with the Philippines' largest natural gas producer, the Malampaya field, which was discovered to have 2.7 trillion cubic feet of gas reserves.

Malampaya fuels three power plants that generate nearly 40 percent of electricity in Luzon since 2001. Nearly half of the field's natural gas has been depleted.

However, Forum Energy's development of the Sampaguita field, which could help shore up local natural gas supply, has been delayed amid China's claim over the Recto Bank.

Forum Energy is partly owned by Philex Petroleum Corp.

InterAksyon.com is the online news portal of TV5, which like Philex Petroleum is chaired by Manuel V. Pangilinan.