Oil Discovery and Technical Change in Southeast Asia : Politics of Oil in the Philippines

The main purpose of this study is to analyse the role of foreign investment in the search for oil in the Philippines. In this respect, it analyses the outlook, views, conceptions and preconceptions of the Philippine Government, the Philippine Congress, private enterprise and the public toward private foreign investment in the field of oil exploration. The Philippines was chosen as a case study because of its somewhat unique position of being about the only country in the region which does not have any of the big international oil companies looking for oil within its territory, especially at a time when these same companies are making intensive explorations for oil elsewhere in the region.