CEBU CITY — The provincial government of Cebu is set to partner with private firms to continue oil and natural gas exploration in Alegria town, south of Cebu.

This comes as Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia disclosed the recent visit of Department of Energy Undersecretary Alessandro Sales on Thursday to inform the governor of the agency’s intention to continue the exploration and drilling of the oil reserves in the town’s Barangay Montepeller.

She narrated that China International Mining Petroleum Co. Ltd. was already producing commercial quantities of oil and natural gas in 2020 following the discovery of an estimated 27.93 million barrels of oil and a possible production recovery of 3.35 million of barrels of crude oil, or a conservative estimate of 12 percent of total oil in place and reserves.

The company also found about 9.42 billion cubic feet of natural gas reserves, with the recoverable resource estimated at 6.6 billion cubic feet, or about 70 percent of total natural gas in place.

However, the DoE terminated the contract with CIMP in 2023 when “they were not able to perform adequately” due to the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic.

Garcia hinted at the possibility of entering into a public-private partnership in re-exploring the Montpeller oil fields.

“We invite private firms and let them partner with capitol to pursue exploration and drilling efforts to harness the town’s untapped oil and gas resources,” Garcia said.