Tycoon Manuel V. Pangilinan, who is also the chairman of PXP Energy Corporation, has an extraordinary wish for this year’s holiday season – a  “Chinese Santa Claus” who will finally give a strife-free nod to petroleum exploration in the turbulent waters of West Philippine Sea, primarily Recto Bank which is seen to have the biggest potential to match the scale of Mlalampaya gas field’s production.

When asked about PXP Energy’s prospects for re-entry into Service Contract 72 which covers Recto Bank, Pangilinan animatedly asserted that “our hopes are always very high …especially (at) the Recto Bank, remember, maybe Santa Claus is a Chinese.”

In 2022, the company had contracted and deployed vessels for planned extended seismic activities at its service contracts 72 and 75 along Palawan basin, but due to China’s protest, the exploration activity was called off on the request then of the Department of Energy (DOE), as underpinned by an order from Malacanang.

When PXP Energy’s exploration plan was abruptly stopped, the energy department affirmed the “force majeure” state for the two petroleum blocks and that has not been lifted until now.

The Marcos administration gave pronouncements that it will fix the ‘problematic’ investment policies in the upstream petroleum industry, but concrete resolution on this deadlock has yet to be laid down by the government.

Pangilinan’s fancy may not have been a typical Christmas wish, but it highlights the heated clash over territorial claims as well as a battle for rights to develop energy resources within the seabed in one of the world’s most disputed region.

And while the PXP chairman had just articulated his “Chinese Santa Claus wish’ in jest for Recto Bank, beneath that grin has been a long-drawn-out frustration with the political gridlock hamstringing their exploration program for more than a decade already.

With the current state of geopolitical tension in the West Philippine Sea, it is very apparent that exploration rights for oil and gas resources even within the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of the country is no longer just a simple ‘national affair’ – and it is the exploration and production (E&P) investors who are being held hostage in the process.

The geopolitically charged Philippine waters has been a cauldron of conflicting territorial claims, hence, giving a green light to petroleum exploration activities would require more than the flick of a pen, it is also about navigating a minefield of diplomacy, harmonization of legal frameworks as well as having ‘cooler heads’ in the negotiating table.

But as China’s aggression escalates, PXP Energy executives consistently indicated that they will defer to the political decision of the national government on further plans for their work program at Recto Bank.

That petroleum block is perceived as a gas-rich prospect, but the scale of reserves has to be confirmed by extended seismic survey as well as actual drilling of wells to verify its actual production potential.

Beyond its E&P ventures in the West Philippine Sea, PXP Energy has also recently submitted its offers for petroleum exploration at the Sulu Sea basin in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

For these new blocks, Pangilinan similarly expressed hope for ‘commercial scale discovery’ that could help advance the country’s quest for energy independence and security.