Transport and Infrastructure Minister Joe Mizzi will have an ‘inside man’ reporting directly to him stationed on the oil rig which will be carrying out test drills off Malta.

The prospective oil well, named Hagar Qim, is located some 150 kilometres south of Malta.

In reply to a parliamentary question by PN MP Toni Bezzina, the Minister said in Parliament that the man for the job has yet to be identified.

Mr Mizzi said that the government has entered into a production sharing contract with Phoenicia Energy and Melita Exploration. The contract states that the cost of drilling the test wells will be borne solely by the contractors.

The Transport Minister confirmed that a risk assessment has taken place, but refused to public any documents related to the test well due to their confidentiality.

The government is operating an “open door policy,” meaning that there is no closing date for other companies wishing to drill exploratory wells.

Mr Mizzi said that the government has spoken to a large number of oil companies, but refused to divulge the exact number in Parliament due to the commercially sensitive nature of the information.

He said that once an agreement is reached the government will publish the information.

Last week, Mr Mizzi paid a visit to the seismic ship Artemis before it set off on a seismic survey of the North of Malta.

In all, 1,500 km of modern 2D seismic data will be acquired in Blocks 1, 2 and 3 of Area 3 using state-of the-art acquisition and processing techniques that allow for better image definition of the deep sub-surface.

The survey is expected to last for about 20 days. The processing of the data is expected to be completed by early summer and interpretation of the data will be finalised by the end of the year.