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Tuesday, August 23, 2005
Search shifts to Bohol Strait; Bogo supply not enough
The search for natural gas will continue because the soon-to-be constructed plant in Libertad, Bogo, Cebu is good only for 15 years, said Department of Energy (DOE) Undersec-retary Guillermo Balce.
A consortium of three companies—Trans Asia Oil Co., Alcorn Gold Resources Corp. and Petroenergy Corp.—will start drilling for natural gas in Bohol Strait, located between Cebu And Bohol, in the coming weeks.
The natural gas project will cover the offshores of the municipalities of Loon, Maribojoc, Cortes, Dauis and Panglao and Tagbilaran City, all in Bohol, and of Argao, Dalaguete, Alcoy and Boljoon in Cebu.
Continuous
“The search for natural gas shall be a continuous process because the reserve in the offshore of Bogo is limited and not sustainable,” Balce said.
The offshore has a reserve of at least one billion cubic feet. The plant, which will be built near the reserve, can produce 1.75 megawatts daily.
Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia welcomes the possible commercialization of the gas deposits in Bogo town in northern Cebu.
Bogo Mayor Celestino “Tining” Martinez II said that if the plan pushes through, it means development for the town, especially for Barangay Libertad where the gas deposits were discovered.
He added that Forum Explorations Inc., the agency that did the drilling plans to sell the gas supply to Cebu Electric Cooperative (Cebeco), but he is looking into the possibility of direct selling of the gas from Forum to big establishments.
Martinez is yet to speak with DOE on the plan.
DOE 7 Director Antonio Labios, however, said Cebeco, being based in Bogo, will be the privileged power firm to be its distributor.
Labios, meanwhile, said a percentage profit sharing of 60 and 40 between the National Government and Forum will be in effect as soon as Forum recovers its capital expenses for the drilling and operating the plant as stipulated in the service contract.
SM City
The daily supply of 1.75 mw is almost equivalent to the supply of SM City mall, which consumes 1.5 mw daily, in Cebu.
Balce said the natural gas can also be packed into compressed natural gas (CNG) to run taxicabs, passenger jeepneys and buses, and all vehicles whose owners are interested to convert their units from the use of gasoline or crude to CNG.
He said this could help reduce the importation of gasoline and crude.
However, there is still no definite date for the declaration of commer-ciality of the natural gas in Bogo because the energy department has yet to consult other government agencies and the governor.
Labios clarified that while there is natural gas deposit in Libertad, this is still to be developed once a plant will be constructed.
He sees the plant and supply to last only five to seven years.
“We will wait for the advice of our main office (DOE) in Manila because there is no definite time to announce the commer-ciality of the natural gas,” Labios said.
He said construction of the plant will start as soon as the declaration of the commerciality of the gas deposit is signed in the presence of President Arroyo.
Balce said the power plant may be operational by 2006 or 2007, because it is just a small structure.
Balce said the consortium will soon present the natural gas exploration project before the Regional Development Council and the Provincial Governments of Cebu and Bohol.
Also, Garcia and Bohol Gov. Erico Aumentado must be consulted on all natural gas explorations and drillings within their territorial jurisdictions.
Labios and Balce assured the local officials and fishermen that the project won’t have an effect on marine life in the 204-hectare Bohol-Cebu offshore oil exploration.
The exploration will be conducted next week or in the first week of September, depending on when the seismic survey is done.
The seismic survey will indicate the area where there is formation of a geologic trap for oil.
They said another exploration is also being eyed in the 240 hectares sea area in Northern Leyte, including the city of Ormoc. (EOB/MBG/LLV/AIV)
(August 23, 2005 issue)
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