Belize and Taiwan sign oil deal

~~Adz:Right~~BELMOPAN, Belize – BELIZE has signed a deal with Taiwan that allows the Asian nation to drill for oil off the Caribbean country for the next eight years.

According to Caribbean Net News, the Production Sharing Agreement was signed on Wednesday (Jan. 14) between the government of Belize and the Taiwanese OPIC Resource Corporation, which is an overseas subsidiary of the state-owned Chinese Petroleum Corporation of Taiwan.

Minister of Natural Resources and the Environment Gaspar Vega signed on behalf of the Belizean government while OPIC President Dr. Ming-Tar Lu signed on the company’s behalf.

Taiwanese Ambassador to Belize, Ting Joseph Shih was also present for the signing.

Under the Agreement, OPIC has been granted access to 4 800 square kilometres offshore Belize for oil exploration and production.

In exchange for giving the corporation the rights to explore, the Belize government will receive revenue in the form of royalties, a share of production, income tax and 10% working interest.

Preliminary exploration activities will begin within 90 days from date of signing.