OVER $88 MILLION has been allocated by three companies to carry out geophysical studies to determine the possible existence of oil and natural gas in Panamanian soil, and the first in the field has completed its data collection process.

The company GX Technology has completed data collection on the content of the coast and sea of the Panamanian Caribbean and from now on, the National Energy Secretariat can now start to put out to tender the blocks for exploration of gas or oil fields.

Prensa.com reports that "...The company, based in Houston, Texas, collected images of the marine subsoil using acoustic waves to characterize the geometry of the rock layers and map the geological structure of the marine subsoil in the Panamanian Caribbean Sea."