The Maltese government is exploring further opportunities on oil exploration with Italy and Libya, although these are still quite far off, Foreign Minister Michael Frendo said yesterday.
Speaking in parliament, Minister Frendo explained that the agreement for joint-oil exploration between Malta and Tunisia was a historic one which cleared a 35-year-old impasse. He said that the agreement provides for a joint exploration strategy on the seabed between Tunisia and Malta and was the result of intense diplomatic work.
Labour MP Joe Mizzi asked whether the letter of intent could be tabled in parliament adding that there had been discussions between Tunisia and Malta between 1996 and 1998. He also asked on various past agreements between other countries and Malta and queried on the oil exploration mission in Kercem, Gozo in 1998.
Labour MP Leo Brincat also asked on various technical points regarding the agreement and if there were any pre-consultations with Italy on the partnership.
Minister Frendo said that this agreement is a spearhead which could open up new opportunities in oil exploration. He said that the coming three months were important as they would be crucial to determine the areas which could be drilled under the agreement.
Referring to negotiations with Libya on oil exploration, Minister Frendo said that a past Labour government had chosen confrontation and the result was that Libya had a much more favourable agreement according to the International Court of Justice’s decision on the median line between the two countries. He said that the agreement with Tunisia was a ‘win-win’ situation that was hammered out after long and intense negotiations.
The minister said that a delegation from Italy was expected to visit Malta in the coming weeks to discuss the possibility of joint oil exploration agreements on a technical level although he admitted that "we are still quite far off from reaching a definite agreement".
Parliament also continued debating the Rome Convention on Contractual Obligations Bill with Nationalist MP Mario de Marco explaining that the relative amendments would make it much easier for cross border business especially in the e-commerce area according to private international law.
Winding up for the government, Parliamentary Secretary Carmelo Mifsud Bonnici said that there appeared to cross party consensus on the issue of cross border legislation especially with regard to international contractual obligations. Speaking on court reforms, he said that the Judicial Letter process had worked excellently since its introduction with over 3,000 cases now having been decided by this method.
Dr Mifsud Bonnici said that cases in the Magistrates Court were down by 200 from 1,475 at the beginning of January. He said that in the Small Claims Tribunal, cases were down by 30 per cent over the same period and called for more cooperation from the opposition in this regard and over amendments in the judicial code.
The bill was approved unanimously in its second reading and was moved to committee stage.