By Gustavo A. Aparicio O. for the Panama America
The harken company from the United States has requested authorization from Panama's Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MICI) to start drilling exploratory wells in Panama to determine if oil exists. According to the Vice Minister of Domestic Trade, Manuel José Paredes, the company has already conducted geotechnical studies of the zones where they will drill and they have asked for permission to continue to the next phase. He explained that the law allows for the execution of a three-phase contract. The first phase is exploration where only the company can analyze the site where it thinks petroleum might exist. The second phase is operational, where the company can drill wells to confirm if there is petroleum, and the last phase is when the wells are put into production. harken will have to make a series of studies and to present/display its guarantees to be able to initiate with the operation.
Editor's Comment: harken and Circle Oil are interested in exploring the areas offshore near Panama. Apparently harken likes what it's found so far and wants to proceed with their exploration. So maybe in ten years there will be three or four refineries operating in Panama, and if there's oil off the coast then it's not too far of a reach to see Panama entering OPEC. Wouldn't that be a hoot. (See: The section on judicial security in Panama and the need to modernize and professionalize the judicial system.) Gold, copper, oil, refineries, canal expansion, bay cleanup, mega-ports, free trade, construction boom - nope, no bubbles bursting any time soon. Wanna buy a condo?
