Oil exploration plans in Alegria to be presented to Davide today

CEBU, Philippines - The Chinese company that has been involved in the oil exploration in the town of Alegria is set to present today its plans to Governor Hilario Davide III.

The consortium of China International Mining Petroleum Company Limited (CIMP) and Polyard Petroleum International Group Limited will be presenting their plans on drilling wells in Barangay Montpeller, where pocket oil wells have been discovered since the early 70s.

Alegria town officials led by Mayor Verna Magallon will be joining Davide and other Capitol officials during the presentation.

Municipal Planning and Development Coordinator, Engr. Tetu Cavalida, said that another presentation will be held in the municipality on Wednesday. 

The Department of Energy had approved the exploration which has been stalled, reportedly due to the rising tension between the Philippines and China which resulted to the backing out of some service contractors.

The DOE-7's Energy Resource Development and Utilization Division earlier blamed the lack of drilling equipment of the original contractor for the delay prompting the CIMP to look for another contractor.

Since 2009, the CIMP has completed the seismic reprocessing and interpretation and surfaced geological investigations of the area while remote sensing study was being carried out covering 180 square kilometers.

Currently, pocket wells that produce oil can be seen in Montpeller and residents have long been using the oil to power their lamps.

During the early 1970s, the same group conducted seismic survey in the area but the project was abandoned because they found out that the supply of oil was not of commercial quality and the equipment they were using was not technologically advanced.

The study uses a low-flying airborne laser survey technology to map structural features of the target areas for the seismic survey and drilling activities.

If oil or natural gas is discovered in commercial quantity in the town, 60 percent of the total revenue will go to the local government unit of Alegria and 40 percent will go to the contractor.

CIMP's $25 million drilling contract with Alegria covers 25 years, according to DOE-7 Regional Director Antonio Labios. (FREEMAN)