Malta’s joint oil exploration proposal

Only days after the Foreign Minister said in Parliament that Malta had made a proposal for joint oil exploration with Libya and Italy, “as a possible solution to the continental shelf issue”, the government announced that three oil companies have filed applications for oil exploration/production sharing contracts following the latest call for expressions of interest. There is very little to say at this stage about the new applications. With regard to the proposal for joint exploration with Italy and Libya, the information given is not enough to make a fair assessment of the situation as it stands today.

Speaking about the proposal when he was closing the debate on the financial estimates of his ministry in the House, Foreign Minister Tonio Borg argued that joint exploration by all the countries concerned was the best solution but this could not be done before agreement was reached. He gave no indication of the stage in which any talks with Italy had reached or, possibly, of any prospect of agreement.

On the other hand, the matter over exploration rights in the south of the island had been raised with Libya for many years. However, the impression the people got from the way the Gaddafi regime tackled the issue was that Libya was in no hurry in reaching any settlement with Malta. With the Gaddafi regime now out of the way following the uprising, the situation in Libya has changed dramatically but this does not mean that the country may be prepared to go into the issue any time soon. Hopefully, the new Libya that everyone is expecting to emerge from Muammar Gaddafi’s ruins will be more sympathetic to Malta’s urgent pleadings for a settlement of the issue than the former regime ever was.

Libya has fully recognised the help the island gave to its people at a time when they needed it most and this is expected to translate itself into a more favourable attitude towards Malta’s plight when the time comes for the two sides to go into the issue once again.

So, while the minister’s comments in Parliament may have made interesting reading, the situation as it stands today seems to be far too embryonic for anyone to make any prediction of the state of things to come in a matter that has been the source of such great disappointment to Malta for so many years.

At one time, the Italian Foreign Ministry argued, for instance, that, while Malta’s proposal for joint exploration was “constructive”, implementing it was “not possible without a prior definition of the respective areas of jurisdiction”. Where does this leave the proposal that has been made by Malta?

A call had also been made for technical negotiations between the two countries. What stage have such negotiations reached?

When, in September last year, The Times argued that an account on oil exploration was long overdue, a spokesman for the Ministry of Resources and Rural Affairs replied that “while appreciating the interest that such a subject generates, the public and the media must also appreciate the sensitivity of the ongoing diplomatic efforts as regards oil exploration. In the national interest, the government had adopted a prudent approach, thereby limiting regular disclosures on the issue”.

The public and media of course appreciate the sensitivity of the subject but surely they are entitled to know more than the little information the government is prepared to give on such an important matter.