Tarlac officials bullish on natural gas discovery

VICTORIA, Tarlac — The natural gas field discovered in this town, should its commercial viability be established, can eventually help local governments and the business community ease the high cost of living in Central Luzon.

According to Gov. Jose Yap Sr., the national government reported in 1999 that Region 3 (Central Luzon) had the highest cost of living in the country, outside Metro Manila. This, despite the presence of several special economic zones in the region.

"This could be attributed to the high cost of power which, in turn, affects the prices of even the basic commodities," he said.

Yap said the discovery of a natural gas field in Barangay Masalasa here "could mean well not only in terms of attracting more investors and generating more jobs, but in lowering the cost of basic services in Central Luzon’s six provinces, because we would be sourcing our power needs locally."

It was after two months of drilling when the consortium of the Philippine National Oil Corp., Energy Development Corp. and Exploration Corp. struck on the natural gas field which energy officials call "Victoria-3."

"It is really surprising. Most of us are really skeptical about it," said Mayor Emmanuel Guiam, pointing out that two PNOC drillings in Barangay Masalasa in the late-1970s and the 1980s, called Victoria 1 and 2, yielded no results.

Masalasa is about five kilometers east from the town proper, and within the provincial boundaries of Tarlac and Nueva Ecija.

When Victoria-1 was drilled in 1979, Guiam said it emitted gas for barely 24 hours. The subsequent drillings at Victoria 2 in 1987 and 1988 were "completely negative," he said.

Up to now, Guiam said gas continues to flow out of Victoria 3. Energy officials, however, said further tests are needed to determine its commercial viability.

Local officials and residents have regarded the discovery as a "blessing," as it came a week before their thanksgiving feast to the Immaculate Conception.

Since the Spanish colonial era, this town has staged a thanksgiving feast to the Virgin Mary every third weekend of February, where rural folk joined poblacion dwellers in a two-day celebration at the public plaza to give thanks for their yearly harvests.

Yap, a native of this town, said that once Victoria-3 is deemed feasible and becomes operational, businessmen in Central Luzon as well as investors at the Luisita Industrial Park in Tarlac City and the Clark and Subic ecozones, could lower their production costs.