President Rodrigo Duterte leads the ceremonial opening of the oil and gas production of the Alegria Oil field Polyard-3 Well in Barangay Montpeller in Alegria, Cebu in this May 19, 2018 photo. | CDN File photo
CEBU CITY, Philippines – The Cebu Provincial Government is planning to meet with stakeholders of the Alegria oil field now that work on the site is expected to resume.
Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia said the Capitol will hold a meeting with representatives of China International Mining Petroleum Co. Ltd. (CIMP), the Department of Energy (DOE), and local government officials of Alegria soon.
Garcia said their agenda, among others, is to discuss, once again, the possibility of revising the sharing schemes between members of the public sector.
“Since they are slowly going back to normal, I’m also back on my normal-fighting self. Fighting for the LGU and fighting for the province (over the sharing schemes),” Garcia told reporters in a recent press interview.
The governor added that she was made aware that work in the oil field in Barangay Montpeller, Alegria town is set to resume two years since COVID-19 forced the Chinese firm undertaking the exploration to halt all activities there.
“Once they come back (to Cebu), I will be calling another meeting with them, the Department of Energy, the LGU,” continued Garcia.
The Alegria oil field is one of the country’s active oil fields.
A 1,970-square kilometer onshore field, CIMP, a subsidiary of Hong Kong-based Polyard Petroleum International Group Limited, commenced exploration on the site in 2018.
Drilling of the oil production wells was about to start during the first half of 2020 but was temporarily stopped due to COVID-driven lockdowns.
Last March, Alegria Mayor Verna Magallon announced that executives and workers from CIMP are expected to return to Cebu, and set-up an oil refinery station so they can start selling fuel products to interested buyers worldwide.
It can be recalled that in 2019, Garcia raised the possibility of modifying the sharing scheme in the proceeds of fuel products sourced from Alegria’s oil field.
The governor pointed out that the existing sharing scheme puts the local government of Alegria and Barangay Montpeller at a disadvantage.
Since exploration began nearly two years ago, the municipality’s accumulated income has yet to reach P1 million.
Under Presidential Decree 87 or the Oil Exploration and Development Act of 1971, the Philippine government will get a 60 percent share from the net sales of the project. CIMP will get a 40 percent share.
The 60 percent share of the government will be further divided as follows: 60 percent will go to the national government, 18 percent to the Alegria municipal government, 14 percent to the host Barangay Montpeller, and eight percent to the Cebu provincial government.
Alegria is a fourth-class municipality located approximately 115 kilometers southwest of Cebu City.
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