Progress in talks on possible oil exploration with Libya, Tunisia

Foreign Minister Tonio Borg told Parliament this evening that the current situation between Malta and Libya on oil exploration in the waters between the two countries was promising and he expected the long-awaited breakthrough on joint exploration to happen.

Dr Borg was answering a series of supplementary parliamentary questions by Opposition leader Alfred Sant and Labour MP Joe Mizzi.

He said matter had been raised at a meeting last month and it had been agreed to move from general issues to more specific ones, such as joint exploration.

Dr Sant said it seemed that the major issue was whether there should be bilateral or multilateral agreement. In the past the government had been of the opinion that Malta’s interests would not be best served by a multilateral agreement, for various reasons. But the fact was that multilateral considerations still came up in bilateral negotiations. Since bilateral negotiations had not given results for the past 15 or 20 years, it would seem that multilateral negotiations were the best.

Dr Borg said he had sought to tackle the issue immediately on taking office. In 1985 the International Court of Justice had decided on a demarcation line just north of the median line between Malta and Libya, to the latter’s advantage. The areas to the east of that demarcation were disputed by Libya and Italy, while the situation west of the line was more complicated because even Tunisia was disputing.

The government was trying to settle with Libya and Italy, and concrete developments had occurred on both sides. The current situation seemed to be a choice between joint exploration and referral to a tribunal or court. The government was trying to decide which was the better option. He personally saw joint exploration as the best option.

The Libyan authorities had shown readiness to discuss, but with different preferences. There should now be a final meeting for a definite decision, but joint exploration still seemed the best option all around.

Mr Mizzi asked if by joint exploration one meant just a study or an agreement to actually start drilling. What would happen after a technical visit?

Dr Borg said he could not answer on a technical level, but there were models of joint exploration that could be discussed. A multilateral decision would be too complicated to arrive at. Much the same could be said about the situation with Tunisia.