In a statement Energy Secretary Vincent Perez, “There are 8 billion barrels of oil that we can develop, but we need some private investors to provide investment money. Because of very limited local oil production, the country remains highly dependent on importation, especially for the demand of the downstream oil industry, which is the biggest user to-date.”

“If the untapped oil reserves would be developed, this will significantly bring down the country’s dependence on oil imports. At the same time, it will result in sizeable foreign exchange savings for the country,” added Perez, who confirmed the Philippines consumed 11 billion litres of oil in 2003 and spends around US$4.45 billion per annum to import petroleum.