Alegria oil drill: 2 wells can produce 360 barrels per day

CEBU, Philippines — The company that is doing oil exploration in Barangay Montpeller, Alegria town has drilled two wells that can extract a total of 360 barrels of oil every day.

Cebu Governor Hilario Davide III said that the provincial government has always been supportive of the oil extraction plans in Alegria town.

After signing a joint declaration last week, China International Mining Petroleum Company Ltd. (CIMP) and the Department of Energy (DOE) drilled the two wells.

Back in 2014, the governor and the vice governor met with the top local officials of the municipality of Alegria led by Mayor Verna Magallon as well as with the country manager of CIMP, Vladimir Gerchikov.

"I know that the local government of Alegria has already approved it. They've had talks with the Chinese investors," he said.

During the meeting, the governor expressed that his main concern is the safety of the environment and of the local folks.

This time, Davide said that the project has done the necessary plans to ensure that the ecological balance will not be compromised.

In earlier interviews, Magallon shared that oil drill operator CIMP has been compliant with the necessary documents to legally run the oil exploration drills.

She believes that the company will also be compliant once they do oil extraction.

Magallon also assured that they will be strictly monitoring the operations in partnership with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and the DOE.

Environmental groups like the Philippine Movement for Climate Justice (PMCJ), Greenpeace Southeast Asia - Philippines and Philippine Earth Justice Center (PEJC) have expressed objection to the drilling.

But Davide said that he does not know of an individual or group which has formally filed a complaint against the plan to extract oil Alegria.

Davide emphasized that if there will be complaints, he is willing to listen but pointed out that the provincial government no longer has jurisdiction when it comes to managing raw energy sources such as oil. (FREEMAN)