By John Rey Saavedra
On Thursday, Governor Gwendolyn Garcia announced that Cebu Province plans to collaborate with private companies to pursue oil and natural gas exploration in Alegria town, located in southern Cebu. This decision follows a visit from Department of Energy (DOE) Undersecretary Alessandro Sales to the provincial capitol, where he informed the governor of the agency’s intention to proceed with exploration and drilling of oil reserves in Barangay Montepeller.
China International Mining Petroleum Co. Ltd. (CIMP) was already producing commercial quantities of oil and natural gas in 2020 following the discovery of an estimated 27.93 million barrels of oil and a possible production recovery of 3.35 million of barrels of crude oil, or a conservative estimate of 12 percent of total oil in place and reserves.
The company also found about 9.42 billion cubic feet of natural gas reserves, with the recoverable resource estimated at 6.6 billion cubic feet, or about 70 percent of total natural gas in place.
However, the DOE terminated the contract with CIMP in 2023 when “they were not able to perform adequately” due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic.
Garcia hinted at the possibility of entering into a public-private partnership (PPP) in re-exploring the Montpeller oil fields.
“We invite private firms and let them partner with capitol to pursue exploration and drilling efforts to harness the town’s untapped oil and gas resources,” she said.
She cited large-scale projects in Cebu such as the Mactan-Cebu International Airport operations, Cebu–Cordova Link Expressway, and joint venture agreements with Filinvest Land and Manila Water that are successfully undertaken through PPP.
The governor also said that the province is set to sign a joint venture agreement with the consortium of Spanish firm Acciona Energia Global and Freya Renewables Inc. to build a 150-megawatt solar plant in the northern town of Daanbantayan.
According to a statement released by the capitol’s information office, Sales is open to the Garcia’s proposal and willing to facilitate talks between potential investors and the province. (PNA)
