CEBU CITY, Philippines – The search for oil continues.
The Department of Energy (DOE) has announced that another oil and gas exploration drilling will be conducted in the coastal waters of Cebu before the end of the year.
This time the exploration will be conducted along the coastal waters of the municipality of Argao, 66 kilometers south of Cebu City, said DOE Regional Director Antonio Labios.
Labios said that a foreign company, NorAsia, is funding the exploration, the second that will be made in the coastal waters of Cebu in three years.
“These are preliminary activities to identify structures where oil or natural gas could be accumulated,” said Labios who added that geologists would still have to identify the rock formations in the area.
He said that the geologists would have to determine whether there is a reservoir in the site and if this is of commercial value.
“Exploration drilling has to be conducted to confirm kung naay sulod o wala. These (activities) are just basically data gathering,” he added.
A similar exploration drilling for fossil fuels was also made by the Japan Petroleum Exploration Company (Japex) along the coastal waters of Sibonga town in 2006. The result of the Japex exploration was still unavailable.
Labios said NorAsia will be conducting the oil and gas exploration in Argao before the end of December or during the early part of January. The exploration will go on for nine to 12 months.
The DOE regional director brought NorAsia representatives to the Capitol Monday afternoon for a courtesy call and to brief Governor Gwen Garcia on the project that they wanted to do here.
He said that a seismic survey was done in June 2007 to determine the availability of oil and gas deposits along the body of water that separates the islands of Cebu and Bohol.
The survey indicated a possibility that oil and gas might “have been formed or accumulated” along the coastal waters of Argao, said Labios.
Labios however said that he still could not determine the scope of the exploration and that NorAsia was still trying to comply with government requirements.
NorAsia, he said, may spend $45 million to $50 million, the same amount of investment that Japex spent for their exploration.
Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Regional Executive Director Leonardo Siballuca said NorAsia had to seek an Environment Compliance Certificate (ECC) from the DENR before they could proceed with the exploration drilling.
One of the requirements for the issuance of an ECC is the conduct of proper consultations, especially with residents of Argao town.
Siballuca said he is unsure if NorAsia already applied for an ECC with his office because he has not seen any application yet.
A separate ECC will have to be applied for after the drilling and when actual extraction of oil and gas deposits may be done, he said.
Siballuca said the exploration should not be cause for alarm.
“I am siding with nobody. Don't be too alarmed. There is no hazard in drilling,” he said.
Labios said exploration drilling will only gather data about the availability of oil and gas deposits.
Siballuca said he was aware of public apprehensions because of the furor over the drilling in the Tañon Strait.
“Gaya ng Japex ng mag drill sila sa Tanon Strait. What did it do? Did it kill anyone?” he said.
He said that just like in the Japex operation, a multipartite monitoring team will be created to closely monitor the NorAsia project.
Labios said the service contract with NorAsia is different from the Japan Petroleum Exploration Co. (Japex) which just finished its oil exploration drilling at the Tanon Strait.
He said the monitoring board found that the oil exploration activities there had no significant effect on the marine environment.”
Environmental lawyers and marine biologists disagree, and have filed a petition for injunction in the Supreme Court after finding that the underwater blasts were harming marine whales and dolphins in the Tañon Strait, a Protected Seascape. /With a report by Editorial Assistant Ma. Bernadette A. Parco
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