Manila Standard
by Alena Mae S. Flores
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
THE government will rely on the United States to supply P8 billion worth of military hardware and training to protect the country’s oil and gas projects, Energy Secretary Jose Rene Almendras said Tuesday.
“To further stimulate exploration we need to provide security,” Almendras said.
“We need to assure oil and gas exploration companies that are now excited to come in. We need to provide them stability.”
The country’s defense plans for the Spratlys and other disputed islands started taking shape after two Chinese patrol vessels harassed an Energy Department survey ship in the Reed Bank 250 kilometers west of Palawan.
Almendras confirmed that the P8-billion energy security fund would come from the royalties from the Malampaya natural gas project, in which the government holds a 10-percent stake.
“The amount will be spent to buy three blue-water ships from the US, helicopters, and six to seven radar systems all across Mindanao and Palawan,” he said.
The equipment purchases and disbursements would be made over three years, Almendras said, adding there would be no need to commission private security groups to secure the energy installations for exploration.
“When the oil rigs are in place, the ones that cost at least $100 million [each], you cannot afford a security risk,” Almendras said.
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