Alegria gas, oil field to benefit the Visayas

Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi said the Visayas region stands to benefit from the new gas and oil field in Cebu that has the potential to power up around 60-megawatt (MW) gas power plant.

Cusi said service contractor China International Mining Petroleum Co. Ltd. (CIMP Co. Ltd.) is eyeing to put up a small gas-fired power plant.

CIMP Co. Ltd. holds Petroleum Service Contract (SC) No. 49, that covers the Alegria Oil Field.

“Based on initial study, it will support something like 60-MW plant, but its not yet confirmed. But there are already plans and they are already preparing to put up small power plant to be fueled by natural gas,” he said.

“It’s small but it will help Visayas, particularly Cebu,” he said.

The energy chief said the gas plant would come after CIMP starts delivering its crude oil production from the Alegria Oil Field.

“They’re just working on the crude first but there will also be gas,” he said.

The DOE recently declared the Alegria oil field in Southern Cebu to have commercial quantities of natural gas and oil resources until 2037.

Exploration and drilling activities on the oil field by the service contractor started in 2009. And by 2016, the DOE and CIMP Co. Ltd. jointly established the oil field contained commercial quantities of natural gas upon its discovery of oil accumulation in the adjacent hydrocarbon traps within the Alegria underground area.

The oil field is discovered to have an estimated 27.93 million barrels of oil (MMBO) with a possible production recovery of 3.35 MMBO or a conservative estimate of 12 percent of total oil in place/reserves.

Cusi said the oil field has two wells ready to produce 180 barrels per day each.

“We’re just scheduling the first delivery, the first output. It will help the local economy. It will help the local industry, like cement factories using crude oil,” he said. “While it’s small, it’s a positive development in our exploration sector.”