PETROLEUM AND RESIDUAL BITUMENS IN LEYTE ^ 



By Wallace E. Pratt 

 (From the Division of Mines, Bureau of Science, Manila, P. /.) 



ONE PLATE AND 2 TEXT FIGURES 



CONTENTS 



Introduction. Occurrence of the Petroleum and 



Situation. Residual Bitumens. 



Physiography. Character of the Petroleum and 



General Geology. Residual Bitumens. 



Stratigraphy. Sources and Probable Quantities 



Alluvial and littoral deposits. OF Petroleum and Residual 



Malumbang series. Bitumens. 



Canguinsa clay-tuff. The Utilization of the Residual 



Vigo shale. Bitumens. 



Intrusive rocks. Suggestions for Exploration. 



Structure. Summary. 



INTRODUCTION 



The existence of petroleum in Leyte became known about the 

 year 1890. In 1892, according to old Spanish records, an 

 Englishman, named White, sought exclusive permission to exploit 

 petroleum deposits in the Philippines and to reiine the petroleum 

 obtained therefrom. In his petition the applicant specified the 

 northwestern part of Leyte and the Islands of Cebu, Bohol, 

 Negros, and Panay as- territory to be explored. Becker,- quoting 

 various Spanish authorities, states that petroleum had been 

 found in the jurisdiction of the town of San Isidro, Leyte. Sir 

 Boverton Redwood ^ was informed by a Mr. Warren that pe- 

 troleum was known to occur near the town of Villaba, Leyte. 

 The people of the town of Villaba remember an attempt at 

 exploitation about the year 1896 on a well-known seep near the 

 barrio of Jinagnatan. Apparently this work, the men in charge 

 of which are said to have been Belgians, was without result; 

 certainly no wells of any depth were drilled. Adams ^ mentions 



' Received for publication June 16, 1915. 



" Report on the geology of the Philippine Islands, 21st Annual Rep. U. S. 

 Geol. Surv. (1901), pt. 3, 107, reprint. 



° Petroleum and its Products. Charles Griffin & Co. Ltd., London. 2d 

 ed. (1906), 56. 



* This Journal, Sec. A (1909), 4, 355. 



241 



