Oil drilling in Leyte town stopped due to safety risks

ORMOC CITY , Philippines   â€“ The oil drilling in San Isidro town, some two hours away from this city, was stopped around two weeks ago due to “environmental and safety concerns,” according to Energy Undersecretary Ramon Allan Oca.

Oca said the drilling was the second done by the Australian firm Otto Energy Ltd. in the area.

The first was last year and the company was “almost at the target depth” when it encountered an impregnable layer of rock which even sophisticated drilling equipment could not penetrate.

The drilling had to be abandoned, Oca said, adding it could have given everybody a good picture of what lay underneath.

Oca said Otto Energy Ltd. had to abandon the Duhat 2 drilling site after it encountered a “kick” at around 200 meters.

He said a “kick” is a gas buildup that could cause the rig to collapse, endangering workers. After risk assessment was made, it was decided that that risk to lives far outweighed the prospect of finding oil.

In the meantime, Oca said the oil prospector is gathering new data and looking for a new location to drill.

Citing initial studies, Oca said the “prospect is good but until we reach the target depth, we can never tell.”

He said the drilling that Otto Energy Ltd. is doing is still at the “prospecting stage,” and it will be the company’s decision to pursue the project “if they find there is really oil, that it is of good quality and its volume is commercially viable.”

As a business, he added, the main consideration would be commercial viability.

Nonetheless, he said the Department of Energy is hopeful that Otto Energy Ltd. does find oil at the Duhat 2 prospect area, adding that the country needs to develop more power supply.

Oca was in this city to represent Energy Secretary Carlos Jericho Petilla, former governor of Leyte, who was invited to be the keynote speaker during the third Eastern Visayas Regional Business Conference hosted by the Ormoc City Chamber of Commerce and Industry on Aug. 15-17.