Philippine Navy intercepted ₱20 Million smuggled Goods from Malaysia

The Philippine Navy  intercepted three Malaysian cargo ships last Thursday (October 4, 2012) loaded with smuggled goods with an estimated market value of ₱20 million Philippine Peso (Approx. $5 Million USD) in Sulu Archipelago.

 

Capt. Rafael Mariano, deputy commander of the Philippine Naval Forces Western Mindanao, said the ships were intercepted during a "maritime interdiction" patrol at the height of typhoon Lawin (international name Jelawat) which hit the country a week ago.

 

"When tropical typhoon 'Lawin' (international name Jelawat) continuously unleashed its wrath in Western Mindanao, the Philippine Navy vessels under the Naval Task Force 61 stationed in Jolo made it as an opportunity to conduct maritime interdiction patrol which eventually apprehended three Motor Launch vessels loaded with smuggled goods from Malaysia last September 23, 2012 at around 4 a.m.," Mariano said in his report.

 

Mariano said the vessels were escorted to the Chinese Pier for joint inspection and inventory by monitoring personnel from the Customs bureau, Sub-Port of Jolo, the crew of the navy vessels in the presence of the owners of the imported goods.

 

Mariano said the vessels were intercepted about 1.7 nautical miles off Candea Point, Sulu.

 

The Navy identified the watercraft as M/L Menham-H, M/L Al-Kausar, and M/L Okey owned and operated by Hadji Hamsi Hamsiradji, Albasher Salim Sanka, and Hadji Jamar Mansul, respectively.

 

The M/L Menham-H yielded an estimated market value of ₱10,300,000 (Approx $2.5 Million USD)  worth of imported goods as follows: 13,855 sacks of rice, 145 boxes of Maggi Kari noodles, 100 boxes of Chong Yuan biscuits, 100 pieces of used white container, 91 bundles of udang noodles, 50 boxes of BT lights white candles, 20 boxes of Boy-Boy/Pollo Choco Sandwich, 5 boxes of black tea, 5 pieces of empty LPG tanks, 4 pieces of vehicle tires, one brand-new plastic drum, and a portable generator.

 

M/L Okey, on the other hand, carried the following goods: 10,000 sacks of rice, 250 boxes of cooking oil, 100 boxes of 3 in 1 coffee, 180 pieces of used white container, 60 pieces of used plastic water containers, and two pieces of a brand-new blue drum with a total estimated market value of ₱ 7,700,000 (Approx $1.8 Million USD).

 

The third ship, the M/L Al-Kausar,  yielded 2, 980 sacks of rice with an estimated market value of ₱2,145,600.00 (Approx $0.5 Million USD) worth of untaxable goods also from Malaysia.

 

Manila Standard Today

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BHP Billiton will Start drilling Oil and Gas near Recto bank Q1-2013

A 1 kilometer deep Oil and Gas Drilling would be Started First Quarter of 2013 near Recto Bank 

BHP Billiton has committed to conduct drilling works in an offshore natural gas field in northwest Palawan, Energy Undersecretart Jose Layug Jr. said yesterday.

 

The Department of Energy (DOE) is looking at Service Contract (SC) 55 as the potential next big gas field after the Malampaya gas-to-power project.

 

"While we have been looking at Recto Bank as the next Malampaya, one of the SCs we are very positive about is SC 55," said Layug.

 

Layug said the exploratory drilling of the Cinco well is expected in the first quarter of 2013.

 

The petroleum unit of BHP Billiton, which is the largest mining firm in the world, has a 60-percent stake in SC 55. Other stakeholders are Australia's Otto Energy Ltd. (33.18 percent) and Trans-Asia Oil and Energy Development Corp. (6.82 percent) of the Phinma Group.

 

While the market for drill rigs is getting tighter amid numerous exploration projects worldwide, BHP Billiton is already conducting negotiations for two rigs, Layug said.

 

High prices of fossil fuel have encouraged foreign and local firms to invest in oil and gas exploration.

 

Layug said the potential resource in SC 55 is trillion cubic feet (TCF) of natural gas, slightly lower than Malampaya's 2.7 TCF.

 

SC 55 covers an area of 9,000 square kilometers and is located in offshore Palawan. It is located on a regional oil and gas fairway that extends from the productive Borneo offshore region in the southwest to the offshore Philippines production assets northwest of Palawan

 

"We are hoping that Cinco will be the gas reserve that can backfill Malampaya as we look for potential resource of natural gas," Layug said.

 

The Malampaya project fuels three natural gas projects that that supplies up to 45 percent of Luzon's power generation requirements.

 

The license for SC 38 that allows the exploration of the Malampaya gas field in northwest Palawan will expire in 2024, with production expected to decline starting in 2015.

ABS-CBN News

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