The local government unit (LGU) of Alegria, Cebu is looking to make use of its natural gas reserves to fuel a 50-megawatt (MW) power plant in the town.
In a report by SunStar Cebu, Alegria Mayor Verna Magallon said the gas deposits can be used not only for the planned power plant, but also a modular refinery that would provide supply to 15 gas stations in neighboring towns.
Magallon, in her State of the Municipality Address in late March, mentioned that the fourth-class town had been blessed with enough crude oil and gas deposits in seven well sites that have been developed since 2014.
A modular refinery is a crude oil processing facility that is less capital-intensive compared to a traditional full-scale refinery facility.
Magallon said that the power plant and refinery project would help the town generate huge annual income which could be used in developing renewable energy ventures like hydroelectric and wind power projects.
Department of Energy (DOE) Visayas OIC Jose Rey Maleza had said that the crude oil from Alegria still needs to be refined before being sold to the public as gasoline, diesel, and other forms of petrochemicals.
In 2018, the DOE and China International Mining Petroleum Company Ltd. (CIMP) signed a Joint Declaration of Commerciality after Alegria’s oil field was declared commercially viable with reserves of oil and natural gas, which could last until 2037. CIMP holds the rights to the Service Contract 49 exploration block covering southern Cebu, including Alegria.
The Alegria oil field is seen as a replacement to the Malampaya gas field in Palawan. Malampaya’s resources are projected to be depleted between this year and 2027.