Oil drillings in Cebu still going on - DOE

The Department of Energy said that oil explorations in Cebu are still going on.

Eduardo Amante, chief of the energy resource development and utilization division of the DOE regional office, said that their Manila office would soon announce the commercial viability of the oil deposits in areas that are being explored.

In the southern part of Cebu, he added that drilling already reached as deep as six thousand feet but they could not yet determine the amount of gas deposits.

"As of the moment, 6,000 feet na naabot sa drilling and they would be doing some testing works and we do not know what would be the outcome," Amante said.

Amante added that he could not yet give any data as to the commercial viability of the fields being explored. "I'm not in position to say it because this has something to do with the stock market, it might be interpreted as favorable or what. We will just wait for the official announcement of the DOE (Manila)."

Presently, at least five oil explorations are being conducted in the Visayas. These include the drillings in Tañon Strait, Bohol Strait, central Cebu, southern Cebu and northwestern Leyte being undertaken by foreign-owned companies.

So far, however, only Forum Exploration has found gas reserves in its Libertad gas field in Bogo, Cebu.

Amante said that DOE has already determined the commercial viability of the gas field in Bogo, adding that the Libertad gas is viable as small-scale.

Once developed and operated, energy officials said Bogo would benefit from cheaper power and more revenues because there are plans to develop the gas well into a power plant that would not only benefit Bogo but the entire province as well.

Forum Exploration, the contractor of the project, will operate the power plant and sell electricity to Cebu Electric Company.

Earlier, Energy undersecretary Guillermo Balce said the Bogo natural gas is only second to Malampaya gas fields in Palawan in term of volume. He said that Malampaya has deposits of up to 3.4 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, which is being used to fuel power plants in Luzon.

On the other hand, the Bogo gas field has about one billion cubic feet that is enough to run a 1.75-megawatt power plant that Forum Exploration plans to develop and operate this year.

At present, Amante said that Japan Petroleum Exploration Co. Ltd., is analyzing the results of the survey in the Tañon Strait. It will also conduct geological and geophysical studies and will drill up to three wells. Gas 2 Grid is also conducting the same studies in central Cebu, Phil-Mal Patroenergy Corp. in southern Cebu, and Alcorn resources in northwestern Leyte.

If oil sources are located, the government gets 60 percent of the earnings while the exploration firm, which would serve as contractor, would get 40 percent as service fee.

"This is still exploration and no time frame when it would finish. Contractors continue exploring to determine the existence of gas deposits and their commercial quantity and viability," Amante said. - Wenna A. Berondo