Editorial

What exactly is the situation over oil exploration in Maltese waters today? While the government is not expected to give out any information that may be prejudicial to its negotiations with oil companies or with other governments over matters that may be in dispute with them, the public deserves to be given a review of the situation and an account of the problems that still exist with neighbouring countries or of new problems that may have arisen.

The possibility of finding oil in commercial quantities is a matter of such vital importance that it is strange that the public has not prodded the government strongly enough over the years to be more open over developments in the bid to strike oil. Maybe this is because of the string of disappointments the island has had in its oil exploration programme so far, but even so the price of crude has now gone up to such a level that it is ironic that there has been no concurrent public interest in the oil exploration programme.

Labour MP Joe Mizzi did well in raising the matter in Parliament some time ago, arguing that Malta should not stop looking for oil when countries all around its territory were already extracting it. It does not seem that Malta had ever stopped the programme altogether, but his question may well be interpreted as a call for information about what is happening over the licences granted so far and over problems that may delay exploration work.

Mr Mizzi in fact raised two important points. The first is that it appeared that an oil company that had planned an exploratory well in a concession between Malta and Libya had given up because of delineation problems. He asked what had become of talks for the two countries to explore for oil together. Is it true, Mr Mizzi asked, that a company had given up because of delineation problems? Are these new or old problems? If they are new, when did they crop up and in which areas are they?

Resources Minister Ninu Zammit told another MP in reply to a parliamentary question recently that talks were being held with neighbouring countries on the delineation of the continental shelf. He had also said that five licences were currently valid. Three holders were carrying out technical studies, while the other two were in a more advanced stage and were seeking partners to share the risks of drilling exploratory wells. Drilling would start as soon as such partners were found.

There have been reports that the countries with which the government is having talks over the delineation of the continental shelf are Libya, Tunisia and Italy. According to these reports, one Australian company had been asked to suspend its work for six months until the negotiations over disputed waters were concluded. If all this is correct, should not the public be informed accordingly?

All that has come out so far is that Malta and Libya have agreed that teams from the two countries should get together to look into the matter. Foreign Minister Michael Frendo has said that Malta and Libya were discussing a number of options, not just exploration.

He did not think it was prudent for him to comment specifically on the options being discussed. This may be so, but, again, the people ought to be told exactly what the delineation problems are, and whether they are new or not, and if they are, what progress has been made, if any, in talks since they first arose.