"It's being discussed (right now) at the Cabinet level," Reyes told reporters shortly after the meeting with oil stakeholders last Wednesday.
He revealed that a committee was also formed to determine what would be the next course of action of the government on the JMSU.
"There is a committee organized for that purpose, I believe the lead agency is DFA (Department of Foreign Affairs) and the discussion is continuing," he said.
On March 14, 2005, the PNOC-Exploration Corporation signed the tripartite agreement with state-owned firms of China and Vietnam, namely, China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) and PetroVietnam to jointly explore a total of 142,886 square-kilometers of possible oil reserves in the country.
The agreement expired last July 1.
Under the tripartite agreement, China was assigned to gather the seismic data, Vietnam to process the information and the Philippines to conduct the interpretation.
Before the year 2007 ended, the PNOC-Exploration Corporation, CNOOC and PetroVietnam started the second phase of the joint study for the assessment of the petroleum potential of a certain area in the South China Sea.
Last March, PNOC president Antonio Cailao admitted that there was no decision yet on whether to extend the agreement.
"That is still being studied, and it will all depend on the outcome of the results of the data gathered, processed, and interpreted.
The decision will depend on the data we will get. Everything we do will depend on the study," Cailao explained.
The parties decided to embark on the second phase following the positive results of the first phase.
The seismic acquisition survey involves a 12,000 kilometers program.
It is expected to be completed by the first quarter this year.
The first phase of the seismic survey started last September 1 and ended on November 16, 2005 with a total coverage of 11,021.65 line kilometers.
The agreement, which was signed in March 2005, provides for three-year joint research of the petroleum resource potential in certain areas of the South China Sea.
During the seismic survey, the partners shared around US$20 million to US$25 million investment cost for the activity. (MSN/Sunnex)
