DOE mulls over setting power plant in Alegria

THE Department of Energy (DOE) in the Visayas is considering the putting up of a  natural gas power plant in southwestern part of Cebu as part of their program to develop more local power sources.

“We should develop potential power sources locally to assure a stable power supply for Cebu and the Visayas grid,” Energy Central Visayas Director Antonio Labios told Cebu Daily News.

Labios said the Energy Department had a deal with the the China International Mining Petroleum Com. Ltd. to drill oil and explore possible source of natural gas in barangay Montpeller, Alegria.

Offshore drilling will start next month.

The company had until 2015 to complete their drilling and study of the area, said Eduardo Amante, Energy Resource Development and Utilization Division (ERDUD) chief.

They forged an agreement with the company in 2008 to explore onshore and offshore drilling in the 197,000-hectare area from Badian to Santander.

Amante said it was only this year that it was finalized to do the exploration in Alegria.

“They are concentrating in Alegria, but they can choose to drill anywhere else within the agreed area,” he said.

The Hong Kong-based company is planning to drill two holes with a depth of at least 1,200 meters in barangay Montepeller.

“So far that’s the deepest drilling we did in Cebu,” Labios said.

They agreed to do a deeper drilling to determine if the oil deposits in Alegria is enough for commercial quantity.

If they find enough supply, they would develop a power plant for natural gas and petroleum for gasoline and diesel.

He said that the company has previously drilled 20 holes in Alegria but were only up to 500 meters deep.

“Based on previous studies, there are manifestations of the high presence of oil and natural gas in the area,” Labios said.

He added that a deeper drilling might lead them to the deposits.

Labios said China International Mining Petroleum Co. Ltd. had better technology to conduct the drillings.

Labios said that they would continue to invite foreign investors in Visayas to explore possible oil deposits.

“We don’t have the financial and technical capability to do it, so we invited foreign investors,” he said./Reporter Candeze Mongoya