Firm applies for oil and natural gas exploration contracts in the BARMM

KORONADAL CITY – A Moro-owned company is eyeing to explore and develop the oil and natural gas deposits in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), an official confirmed Tuesday.

Lawyer Ishak Mastura, chairman of the BARMM’s Regional Board of Investments (RBOI), said his office just granted a provisional registration to ESMaulana Global Ventures Company, Inc. (ESMaulana), a firm based in Cotabato City , as an investor in the Bangsamoro region.

The company, owned by the family of Engr. Esmael Maulana is registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and has paid a non-refundable P2 million fee to the Department of Energy (DEO) to obtain the service contract, Mastura told the Inquirer.

According to its briefer, ESMaulana has acquired Block 10 of the Cotabato Basin straddling 384,000 hectares that includes the Liguasan Marsh and Block 6 covering about 1.3 million hectares in the Sulu Sea Basin.

“ESMaulana’s lifework includes the exploration and development of natural gas deposits in the Liguasan Marsh,” Mastura said.

He said ESMaulana was the only company, so far, that applied to explore and develop the predetermined areas for Block 10 of the Cotabato Basin and Block 6 of the Sulu Sea Basin.

ESMaulana’s proposed petroleum investment in the BARMM has been lodged under DOE’s Philippine Conventional Energy Contracting Program, according to Mastura in a separate statement.

The company’s proposed investment would amount to nearly P1 billion.

But DOE has yet to award the service contracts for the proposed petroleum projects in the Bangsamoro region as the proposed investment projects are subject to the joint determination by the BARMM government and the national government, through the Intergovernmental Relations Body (IGRB).

Section 2, Article VI of the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL) provided for the creation of the IGRB to coordinate and resolve issues between BARMM and the national government such as natural gas and petroleum investments.

DOE has held in abeyance the awarding of service contract to ESMaulana pending the discussions at the IGRB involving petroleum investments in the Bangsamoro region, Mastura said.

He also said that the Office of the President would issue the final approval of the service contract.

Mastura said that EsMaulana’s registration with the RBOI in the BARMM would allow it to prepare, recruit and train manpower and to obtain capital equipment for future exploration, utilization and development of their target areas in the BARMM.

But it does not mean that ESMaulana could already proceed with exploration or development of the proposed project areas.

It meant, however, that the firm had already been recognized as a company operating in the BARMM area and that the BOL had expressed preference to BARMM residents in the exploitation of the region’s natural resources, particularly petroleum like oil and gas.

RBOI has not given any fiscal incentive to ESMaulana as petroleum companies have their own terms and conditions under a service contract.

But in the future, the company can apply for reduced duties and taxes for importation of capital equipment should their oil and gas venture progress during their talks with the BARMM government and the national government, Mastura said.

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