House to Probe Potentials of Benham Rise As Source of Natural Gas

Lawmakers have called for an inquiry into the potential of Benham Rise as a source of natural gas to help ease the country’s energy requirements and dependence on oil.

Rep. Rufus B. Rodriguez (2nd District, Cagayan de Oro City), author of House Resolution 1696, said previous studies conducted by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) have indicated large deposits of methane in solid form in the provinces of Isabela and Aurora.

“The National Mapping Resources Information Agency (NAMRIA) has also confirmed the presence of gas deposits in the country,” Rodriguez said.

Rep. Maximo B. Rodriguez, Jr. (Party-list, Abante Mindanao), the other author of the resolution, said Benham Rise could turn the Philippines into a national gas exporter because of the area’s huge methane deposits, and reduce the country’s dependence on imported petroleum.

Rodriguez said there is an estimated 13-million Benham Rise natural gas in Isabela and Aurora and other parts eastern of Luzon.

“It is a massive formation of basalt, a common volcanic rock, and is described in a study as a thickened portion of the Philippine sea plate’s oceanic crust,” Rodriguez said.

Benham Rise lies within the continental shelf of the Philippines as defined by the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and is not subject to any maritime boundary disputes and claims.

Rodriguez said on April 8, 2009, the Philippines filed a claim to the territory and the United Nations approved it on April 12, 2012, confirming that the landmass is part of the country’s continental shelf.

Rodriguez said that it has been two years since the decision of the United Nations and it seems that no explorations have been conducted on the area to tap into this source of energy and realize the potential it possesses.

“There is a need to look into this and determine what the government, particularly the DENR and the Department of Energy, is doing in order to confirm the reports on the huge gas deposits in the area and how said deposits could be utilized by the country,” Rodriguez said.

Source: House of Representatives Media Relations Service, Public Relations and Information Bureau