Chinese Firm To Explore
Oil In Costa Rica
Costa Rica's ministro de
Ambiente y Energia (MINAE)
- minister for
environment and energy -
has said that
state-owned China
National Oil & Gas
Exploration and
Development Corp plans
to explore oil in the
country's territorial
waters, EFE news agency
reported.
"The matter of petroleum
exploration has always
been one of the
possibilities for us,
even before the current
government," Roberto
Dobles told a press
conference in San José.
He said a bilateral
panel was already at
work drafting a formal
proposal.
The document will also
lay the basis for
cooperation on improving
the refining process,
training oil workers and
in developing new
petroleum derivatives
like solvents and
lubricants, the minister
said.
Dobles said the search
for petroleum would be
guided by a policy
mandating that 'any
energy project must also
be environment
friendly'.
"No one would be able to
explore in protected
areas or indigenous
reserves. High
environmental standards
will be demanded," he
said.
Dobles pointed out that
"government's policy
would not put the
country's energy at
risk." He pointed out
that unless Costa Rica
discovers oil at home,
it will be forced to
import heavy crude from
Venezuela, which is
expensive to refine and
generates more pollution
than lighter grades of
oil.
In 2002, then-president
Abel Pacheco declared a
"moratorium on all
petroleum exploration
and production", saying
that Costa Rica would
become an "environmental
leader and not a
petroleum or mining
enclave".
He said, "Costa Rica's
true petroleum and true
gold are the water and
oxygen produced: by its
rainforests.
The moratorium prompted
the US-based Harken
Energy Corp to file suit
against the Costa Rican
government over a 1998
contract that allowed it
to explore for oil in
the Caribbean, an
agreement that was
revoked by Pacheco in
2005.
The Caribbean province
of Limon and its coastal
waters, as well as the
northern region of San
Carlos in the province
of Alajuela, near the
border with Nicaragua,
are among the places
that could contain oil,
Costa Rican officials
said.
Several companies
drilled in these areas
decades ago, but they
did not find any crude.
In November, following
the first reports that
China might be
interested in searching
for crude oil in the
country, environmental
groups have been
protesting against such
projects.
Oilwatch, one of the
groups, said in a
statement that the
possibility of oil
exploration was "news
that caused indignation
among environmental
organizations". |
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