“Encouraging results” are emerging from ongoing oil exploration around Malta, according to Resources Minister George Pullicino.
Active petroleum systems had been identified at the most recent oil wells being explored, he said.
However, government sources told The Times this did not mean oil had been struck in any economically viable quantities. All it meant was that experts had found the geological layers required for there to be oil.
“Malta has been exploring since the 1950s. To date only 10 offshore exploration wells have been drilled in an area of 70,000 square kilometres. Although some are dry, some of the more recent ones indicate the presence of active petroleum systems in our anchorage,” a source said. Currently, two companies are carrying out research to see whether there is oil on Malta’s continental shelf.
Meanwhile, a “road show” will begin next year, starting from London, in which the authorities will try to convince oil companies to start looking into the “substantial” areas of Malta’s seabed which are still unexplored.
“Malta offers attractive fiscal and contractual terms, a stable political climate, forms part of the EU and has favourable geological conditions, all of which provide an ideal setting for exploration,” said Mr Pullicino.
Mr Pullicino was speaking at a conference about oil exploration and oil-spill response planning organised by the Mediterranean Oil Industry Group.
He said the government was well aware of the risks involved in the industry and the importance of having mitigating measures in place for oil pollution and potential spills.
He said around 25 per cent of the world’s tanker traffic occurred in the Mediterranean Sea and 75 per cent of such tankers passed through the Malta-Sicily channel.
The responsible authority for oil preparedness, such as in the case of an oil spill, would be Transport Malta which manages the response unit made up of the Civil Protection Department, the Malta Environment and Planning Authority and the Armed Forces of Malta.
The European Maritime Safety Agency has 16 response vessels around European ports, five of them based in the Mediterranean and three of which are Malteseowned and operated.
Mr Pullicino made reference to the ecological disaster in the Gulf of Mexico this year caused by BP oil drilling. Although companies were welcome to enter into flexible agreements with the government for oil exploration in Malta, he said, the national regulator would review the risk assessments prepared by oil companies prior to any exploration activity to mitigate the environmental risks.
Meanwhile, marine biologist Alan Deidun outlined the risks involved and showed how an oil spill would affect Malta’s marine flora, fauna, beaches, rocks, birds and, indirectly, humans.