Oil discovered in south Cebu

Once this news gets out? Its been out for months!

However, if these extra "surcharges" are implemented and that is pure negative speculation on your part, then the said compnay will undoubtedly up sticks and walk. There is only so much a company will tolerate. And a small backhander or no backhander might be all they end up getting. They surely wont be that stupid to think that they can demand crippling sums in bribes. I repeat, the Philippines isn't the only country with a bribes based pedigree in the oil industry, Nigeria for example has been a great example of that, over the last 3 decades.

Again, we can ding dong any thread forever based on pessimistic speculation. Lets see how the project turns out. Give the thing a chance instead of trying to throttle it at birth. If it works the Philippines should see some benefit, from a variety of angles.


Deja Vu ? Here is a typical reflection on Nigerian oil wealth if you want pessimism:


"A leaked report into Nigeria's oil and gas industry has revealed the extent of mismanagement and corruption that is costing billions of dollars each year.

The report, seen by the BBC, was commissioned by the oil minister in the wake of this year's fuel protests to probe the financial side of the sector.

It says $29bn (£18bn) was lost in the last decade in an apparent price-fixing scam involving the sale of natural gas.

It also calculated the treasury loses $6bn a year because of oil theft.

Nigeria is one of the world's biggest oil producers but most of its people remain mired in poverty."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-20081268

From the Daily Snail last year. You dont have to try hard for info on Nigerian corruption and its oil wealth.


"Some 100,000 barrels of oil a day are being stolen from pipelines, ports and storage tanks with the connivance of politicians, officials and military top brass, says an authoritative report. "

Unfortunately it is widely known within the oil industry to be true.


http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...rupt-officials-allow-2bn-oil-stolen-year.html

A British member of another Philippine-centric forum has, for the last 20+ years, been acting as a consultant to businesses wishing to relocate part or all of their operations to the Philippines or bid for big projects here and I've been following his various writings on the subject since late 2006. According to him, the major deterrents and where most give-up are the "cost of doing business", the crab mentality and the immense amount of red-tape involved, all of which must be paid for by the foreign investor. Dignitaries, particularly local ones, care not about the benefits of projects to the country as a whole but simply about consolidating and building their power base - and that means Pesos.

I agree, John, and I repeat that I hope this project does succeed and that barrels of oil do flow. But that presents another problem: where will the oil go? There isn't a refinery on Cebu nor is there a convenient oil terminal for coastal tankers to load and transport it to the refineries on Luzon.

There is an existing pipeline route to Luzon, apparently, that they might connect up to. Dont know if it is quake proof?

Also:

" Oil transportation options from the Malolos Oil Field include road transport by a new, all weather, concrete road from the wellsite to coastal port options at nearby Aloguinsan (8km – less than 10 minutes by road) or the larger, established port of Toledo (32km – 30 minutes by road). One option would be to load the oil onto marine transport for sale either to one of two oil refineries located in Batangas, Philippines (approximately 500km north) or in Singapore.”"

Well, my lot are in China, Australia and Malaysia and Thailand I think, aswell as other places globally. Having established themselves carefully, over the years I am sure they are wise enough to exercise caution where it is due.

That agrees with what my wife tells me but that appears to be to distribute refined product such as aviation fuel. You would know better than I if such a pipeline could also be used to transport unrefined oil. I mean to say, wouldn't there be a danger of contamination of jet fuel?

Indeed. My father spent twenty or so years from the mid-fifties as Far East Director of APCM (aka Blue Circle Cement) and established a number of Far Eastern manufacturing subsidiaries including Tiger Cement which operated in much of what is now Malaysia and parts of Indonesia and Thailand. The Malays were "pussy-cats" to deal with, the ruling Sultans being very keen on inward investment but, like the Philippines, it was the Chinese entrepreneurs who were - and to an extent remain - the driving force behind that country's success.

You might be correct about the pipeline. But you can see the plan above from the Ossie blurb.

I'm concerned about oil pollution, there's enough pollution already.
Just look at Nigeria.

I have been called a Green by some people. Pollution concerns me too. If oil exploration and production is managed well then pollution can be minimised. As an insider I have seen both sides of the oil industry. Proper regulation is the key.

Well, by one person on here actually. Never been called a Green before in my life until then. But I do share a concern for the planet, yes.

sorry about the delay, internet's very slow here! can't see it being proper regulated over here, nothing is.

I take your point Jim. And another reason why many major oil companies dont like to enter some countries. Many of the majors are global companies and prefer to operate where possible with the same standards of ethics and HSE in every corner of the globe. If they cannot, for whatever reason, then they leave it to someone else.

Did you notice the photo of the naked flame in the earlier post, amongst the trees? Many of the majors, these days, would shudder at the thought.

yeah, that was scary. we will be drinking toxic water next.
gas on tap.

Yes and liable to start a forest fire, potentially. It should have been carried out in a clearing, away from people and vedgetation i.e. a specially prepared "pit" that would cost little to create.

A footnote to this is that in Indonesia quite a number of established and producing oil and gas fields are from a similar volcanic "back arc" setting. So maybe there are similar deposits elsewhere in the Philippines, other than onshore Cebu. Subject to the approval of the local Mayors of course.

And why not. Ideally it would be carried through in a well managed way, rather than through a system of under the table deals. If there is heaps of the stuff yet to be developed ( and the Philippines is underdeveloped in terms of hydrocarbons ) then it should be a win win for everyone.

Indonesia's Texas? Rural Java braces for oil boom

"Few things seem to happen at speed in this sleepy Java town where rickshaws ply the streets. But this rural area of rice fields and teak forests is set to be transformed by Indonesia's biggest oil find in years.
Oil production could start to flow from the huge Cepu field straddling East and Central Java later this month and eventually add millions of dollars to the coffers of local governments, as well as an influx of workers and a wave of new expectations."

"Exploiting natural resources in Indonesia, particularly when it involves foreign companies, can often be sensitive.

The huge Grasberg copper and gold mine in Papua, operated by Freeport McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc, has been a frequent source of friction over its environmental impact and the share of revenue going to Papuans.

Exxon has also faced pressure over alleged abuses by the Indonesian military guarding its gas project in Aceh on the far northern tip of Sumatra.

Cepu is in the heart of densely populated Java and there have been some protests calling for more local jobs in the project.

The early stages of the project have not required much labor, but when the project cranks up toward full production then the numbers should jump, said Deddy Afidick, a spokesman for Mobil Cepu Ltd, a unit of Exxon Mobil.

"When we start full production we are going to have five major contractors, it will involve hundreds, probably, of sub contractors and other local contractors also," said Afidick, adding that thousands of workers might need to be hired.

The firm, which has set up an information office in Bojonegoro, had started programs such as vocational training to ensure host communities benefited from the project, he added.

The project would not be cut off from the local community in the way that some Indonesian resource projects have, pledged Maman Budiman, senior vice president at Exxon Mobil Indonesia.

Some resource projects involving foreign firms in more remote areas like Papua are basically self-contained guarded enclaves with on-site housing and other facilities."

A large oil discovery in a back arc setting in the Indonesian Archipelago. Seemingly there were difficulties getting going. Resistance etc etc., but it seems to have taken off.



http://www.reuters.com/article/2009/08/10/us-indonesia-oil-idUSTRE57903420090810

Interestingly here is a mayor who is saying stuff the eco tourism, we want the oil!!!!!!

Three Cebu groups want Capitol to stop oil exploration in southern Cebu

CEBU CITY, Jan. 16 — "Three nongovernment organizations have filed a petition against the oil exploration before the Cebu Provincial Government, following a recent announcement on the discovery of oil in Aloguinsan town in southern Cebu.

The three-page petition by Philippine Earth Justice Center, Inc. (PEDC), Freedom from Debt Coalition (FDC)-Cebu and Central Visayas Farmers Development Center (Fardec) was addressed to Gov. Hilario Davide III, Vice Gov. Agnes Magpale and the 14 members of the Cebu Provincial Board.

The groups alleged that the oil discovery "astonished and caused considerable apprehension… (on) your constituents, including the undersigned citizens and the members of our network."

They urged Capitol officials to discontinue the oil drilling project in southern Cebu.

"We call for a stop to the ongoing oil exploration in Aloguinsan on legal, social, health, climate and ecological grounds," read the petition signed by PEJC co-founder and co-trustee Atty. Gloria Estenzo Ramos, FDC-Cebu secretary general Atty. Jose Aaron Pedrosa, and CV-Fardec executive director Patrick Gerard Torres.

They claimed they were not aware of an oil exploration in Aloguinsan town, which is part of the Tañon Strait Protected Seascape and "known for its exemplary eco-tourism project, the Bojo River Cruise."

The petitioners furnished copies of their appeal to the local government unit of Aloguinsan, the Office of the President, Department of Energy (DOE), Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), Climate Change Commission, and the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA).

But Aloguinsan Mayor Augustus Cesar Moreno remained firm in his stand favouring the discovery of oil in his municipality.

He said the presence of oil is a chance for his town’s economy to improve.

Moreno said the exploration is already done.

”The project is now in the commercial testing stage. We are not even 100 percent sure if it is commercially viable," he said. "




http://balita.ph/2014/01/16/three-cebu-groups-want-capitol-to-stop-oil-exploration-in-southern-cebu/