MANILA – President Rodrigo Duterte invited a Russian energy giant to invest in oil and gas development in the Philippines as he assured their possible investment will be safe and free from corruption, according to Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo.
He added Duterte invited Rosneft to invest in the country during his meeting with the state-owned Russian oil company’s Chief Executive Officer Igor Sechin in Moscow.
“(Duterte) assured Rosneft officials that their investments are safe in the Philippines and that he would not tolerate corruption in the bureaucracy,” he added.
“The President also assured the company that an agreement on oil and gas exploration shall undergo the proper domestic processes and comply with applicable laws and pertinent rules and regulations so as not to leave any room for corruption or irregularity,” Panelo said.
Rosneft, which earned the ire of China, is operating an oil block that provides 10 percent of Vietnam’s energy needs. It is also operating a Japanese semi-submersible rig on the continental shelf of the Southeast Asian country.
Beijing, meanwhile, looks to conduct joint oil and gas explorations with Manila, having signed a deal for this during Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s visit to the Philippine capital in November last year.
The Philippines and China moved forward with their joint oil and gas exploration deal, naming members of the joint steering committee that will supervise projects under the agreement.
The deal does not specify the areas to be covered but the Philippines earlier offered for oil exploration in the Recto Bank./PN
