Alegria may start processing crude oil by 2027 - DOE

Local

Eighteen months — or a year and a half.

That’s how long it will take the oil field in the municipality of Alegria to process and hopefully start selling crude oil.

During a recent press briefing, the Department of Energy (DOE) gave updates on the country's energy exploration projects, including the site in Barangay Montpeller.

Texcal Energy, the company awarded the contract to develop the 197,000-hectare oil field, has informed regulators that the Alegria oil field development could take up to 18 months before crude processing begins.

According to Energy Undersecretary Alessandro Sales, the timeline is largely driven by the need to rehabilitate wells that have sat dormant for about three years.

"Dahil kailangan niyang balikan 'yung mga wells, linisin, i-re-enter… paratingin din yung mga bagong equipment niya," Sales said.

Sales noted that the operator also needs to bring new equipment on-site to support both development and processing work, another major factor behind the projected timeline.

But he clarified that the 18-month estimate is a "nominal timeline," representing the DOE's working projection based on updates from the field operator, though no exact start date has been set for development activities.

Oil was first discovered in the first-class municipality back in 2018.

Last May, Texcal Energy, based in Indonesia, was awarded the Petroleum Service Contract for the Alegria Oil and Gas Field by President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. after the site sat idle for three years.

The field is located in the upland barangay of Montpeller, with a production area spanning 42,749 hectares.

Experts estimate that it holds an estimated 28 million barrels of crude oil, though less than 4 million barrels are considered recoverable.

The site also holds approximately 9.42 billion cubic feet of natural gas, with about 6.6 billion cubic feet recoverable.(RBE)