Oil deposits in Cebu confirmed

CEBU - There is definitely oil in Jibitnil Island in Medellin, Cebu.

The Department of Energy (DOE) and the Philippine National Oil Co. confirmed this during a meeting the other day with Forum Pacific, the energy department's private contractor.

Rannie Abando, DOE's oil and gas division chief, said the exact location, volume and commercial value of the oil deposits have yet to be determined by an oil exploration to be conducted later this year.

Abando said it will take one to three months to determine whether the oil deposits are of commercial quantity.

Land drilling has to produce at least 2,000 barrels of oil per day, while offshore drilling has to come up with at least 10,000 barrels per day to be viable.

Abando said the DOE has labeled northern Cebu as a sedimentary basin or a place which has the potential for petroleum accumulation.

But he said sedimentary basins in the country are not as prolific as those found in other oil-producing countries in Asia.

"There is a possibility we will strike oil but we are certain the quantity would be a far cry from that of Saudi Arabia or Iran," Abando said.

The PNOC and DOE are at present conducting oil exploration in Batanes after which Cebu will follow, DOE regional director Antonio Labios said.

DOE records show that the Philippines has produced 51 million barrels of oil since 1979 from the northwest Palawan wells, the bulk of which went to Singapore mainly because local oil producers were after the dollars.