Alegria hopes for jobs, revenues from oil field

The discovery of commercially viable amounts of oil and natural gas in Alegria could mean more economic and employment opportunities for the town’s residents, its top local official said.

In an interview on Friday, Alegria Mayor Verna Magallon welcomed the news about an oil field being discovered in Montpeller, a mountain barangay, by the Department of Energy (DOE) and China International Mining Petroleum Company Limited (CIMP).

CIMP has assured the town that residents of Barangay Montpeller will be given priority in the hiring of workers for the oil field, Magallon said. But aside from job opportunities, the discovery could also mean an increase in revenues for the barangay and the town as well.

Magallon she and other town officials had initial talks with DOE and CIMP regarding their plan to conduct oil exploration in the town a few years back. Before the exploration began, the two companies, along with local government officials, conducted a public hearing in six sites of the affected barangay. Representatives of the company also appeared before municipal officials to discuss the project’s potential impact on the town.

Magallon assured that the municipal government, along with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and DOE, will monitor any possible environmental impacts that the oil field might bring about.

In a statement, Cebu Gov. Hilario Davide III said he was happy after hearing the report that the oil field found in Barangay Montpeller was “commercially viable.”

Davide visited Alegria yesterday to inaugurate the town’s new municipal building.

Officials of DOE and CIMP, the service contractor, signed last Wednesday a Joint Declaration of Commerciality. The DOE said in a statement that some 27.93 million barrels of oil and about 9.42 billion cubic feet of natural gas reserves were found, after drilling and exploration activities that began in 2009. CIMP’s development plan for Alegria gained the DOE’s approval last Dec. 19, 2017.

There will be 7,800 barrels of oil produced per month. But this is still smaller compared to other areas. The potential is there and the Chinese are continuously drilling the exploration well in the vicinity.

DONATO MARCOS Department of Energy undersecretary