Malta to conduct oil exploration marketing drive

The government is to embark on a drive to market Malta potential among oil companies with a view to encouraging them to prospect for oil in Maltese areas, Resources Minister George Pullicino said today.

Two companies, Heritage Oil and Malta oil, are currently conducting geological studies off Malta. Heritage Oil is contractually obliged to start drilling an exploratory oil well off Malta by December this year while Malta Oil is obliged to do so by July next year.

Mr Pullicino said the drive would not include offshore areas that were still subject to disputes with other countries over conflicting territorial claims.

Speaking at a press conference which reviewed the work of his ministry over the past year, Mr Pullicino said that water meters would be installed on boreholes during the coming year as part of government's drive to control extraction from the water table.

Mr Pullicino said metering would give government a clearer picture of how much groundwater was being extracted and from where.

Turning to the proposed ban on the international trade of blue fin tuna, Mr Pullicino said it was 'very strange' that pressure was being made to ban tuna when other species such as cod were also endangered.

Malta was the only EU member state to oppose a ban on blue fin tuna after other countries, including France, Italy and Spain changed their position and favoured the ban during the last EU Council meeting. Mr Pullicino reiterated Malta's stand in favour of sustainable management of fish stocks.

The press conference was held on the roof of the Main Guard building in St George's Square with a specially erected podium giving cameramen and photographers a perfect view of the minister with the renovated square as a background below. The new-look St George's Square was one of Mr Pullicino's projects last year, along with the renovation of St Anne Square in Sliema.

More open spaces, the minister said, would be renovated or made accessible to the public. These included a family park in Marsascala, a natural park in Delimara, the creation of an animal petting farm for children at Ta' Qali and the upgrading of Kennedy Grove in St Paul's Bay.

Turning to waste management, Mr Pullicino said waste was an energy resource. The recycling facility in Marsascala would be fully operational by July when digesters would start turning domestic waste into energy.

On wind energy, Mr Pullicino said that studies on the best location of wind farms at Sikka l-Bajda, Rini Valley in Bahrija and Hal Far industrial estate were ongoing.

When asked about the request by Liquigas to increase the price of gas cylinders, Mr Pullicino said the revision was being evaluated by the Malta Resources Authority." I do not interfere with the management and running of the authority but I insist the MRA perform a thorough exercise when considering any requests for price revisions," Mr Pullicino said.

The minister spoke of EU funds that were being distributed to farmers and herdsmen through various government schemes and insisted the millions would not have been available had Malta not joined the EU. Present for the press conference was MP Philip Mifsud who was recently assigned to the ministry as a parliamentary assistant.