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Thursday, November 24, 2005
Search on for Aloguinsan oil
By Charmaine Y. Rodriguez
Sun.Star Staff Reporter
A MOUNTAIN barangay in the municipality of Aloguinsan, Cebu is being studied as a source of oil, with an exploration set to begin in the area next month.
The Department of Energy (DOE) Central Office confirmed that Gas 2 Grid, which holds an exploration permit covering central Cebu, secured an environmental compliance certificate from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.
“They cannot start any activity without any clearance,” Ed Amante, chief of the energy resource development and utilization division of the Department of Energy Visayas field office, assured the public.
Aloguinsan Mayor Cynthia Moreno yesterday said the Municipal Council already passed a resolution supporting the project, following an endorsement from Barangay Olango officials, who also passed a resolution.
Moreno said the exploration equipment units are being readied in the area, identified by the Philippine National Oil Co. as a possible source of oil as early as the 1960s.
“It’s high time that they went back there,” she said of the barangay, which is about 14 kilometers from the town hall.
However, the southwestern town will temper their expectations since it will still have to be determined if any oil that is found is commercially viable.
Moreno expects the town, especially the barangay, to benefit even from the exploration since the residents could sell food and drinks to the workers. The town also gets a share of the taxes from the drilling project.
But with the investment the oil exploration company is putting in the project, she believes the chances of finding oil are high.
In a report to the Regional Development Council 7 last June, the DOE, which received flak from local officials for its failure to inform the public of an oil exploration in the Tañon Strait, stated that there are five ongoing searches in the Visayas.
Gas 2 Grid, one of the companies listed, said it will conduct the geological and geophysical studies in central Cebu and will drill one well costing about $700,000 to $3.2 million.
It could drill up to four wells, which would cost up to $13 million.
Amante said the whole of Cebu is already covered by different companies conducting oil searches with permits granted by the DOE.
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