Malta to start new oil exploration drive

The government is to start marketing more licences for oil exploration in Maltese waters, Resources Minister George Pullicino said.

Mr Pullicino said the government felt the time was right for the move after the industry suffered setbacks from the economic crisis and the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico last year.

"Now that the industry  is recovering from the blows it has received , we feel it's time for a road show so that we could sell licences for oil exploration in territories which are ours that have not yet been committed," he said.

The marketing drive is planned to start in June.

At present two firms, Heritage Oil International (Malta) Ltd and Malta Oil Pty Ltd, have contracts for oil exploration in Maltese waters.

Heritage Oil was meant to start exploration by the end of last year while Malta Oil is contractually obliged to begin exploring by this July.

The companies had asked for amendments to their contracts and the ministry and the Malta Resources Authority are now waiting for feedback from their end, the minister said.

Last year, the Oil Exploration Department within the MRA held talks with oil companies interested in exploring acreage in Maltese waters.

Oil exploration rights in the Mediterranean have been contested between Malta, Italy and Libya.

In March 2008, Libya wrote to Heritage Oil warning the company not to do any drilling in Area 7 ( on the Medina Bank), which the North African state claimed as its own. Heritage Oil was due to start operations in Area 7 and Area 2 ( which lies to the north of the disputed zone), where it was granted a licence by the Maltese government to explore.

Earlier this year, Malta wrote a formal letter of complaint to Italy after the Italian government offered oil exploration licences around the islands of Pantelleria, Linosa and Lampedusa.