Aloguinsan oil find; Davide assures consultation before commercial drilling

CEBU, Philippines - Cebu Governor Hilario Davide, III wants all stakeholders to be consulted before the province will allow commercial operation of the recently discovered oil deposits in Aloguinsan.

 â€œThere’s got to be consultation with other stakeholders, di lang sa business side. Tan-awon gyud na all aspects, mao nang magpa-brief gyud ko,” Davide said.

The governor, however, said it is still premature to conclude that there is future to the discovery especially that the exploration is still ongoing. But Davide said that the local residents, municipal officials, as well as environmental groups should be consulted about it. The environmental groups have already hinted on protesting the oil drilling.

The Department of Energy (DOE), he said, has already promised to brief him next month on the status of the project. Energy Undersecretary Ramon Allan Oca personally visited the governor yesterday morning to inform him of the real situation and assured him of detailed updates of the project by February.

Oca said they came to see the area to find out if the oil find is of commercial volume “because right now we don’t know if it is really commercial.”

It was only recently that Australian firm Gas2Grid Ltd. announced that the DOE has recognized Malolos-1 as an oil discovery. The company has been doing oil drilling in Aloguinsan, Cebu since October last year.—(FREEMAN)