MANILA, Philippines -- UK-based firm Pitkin Petroleum Ltd. plans to spend at least $5 million this year to undertake its 2D seismic program under Service Contract (SC) 53 in Mindoro.

Arturo A. Morado Jr., Pitkin managing director and chief executive, said that, depending on the weather, the firm would likely start the seismic program by the second half of the year.

?If the results are OK, we plan to drill a well,? Morado said. ?As a rule of thumb, onshore [drilling] may cost $5 to $10 million.?

According to Morado, the company will proceed with its investments as planned despite a global economic slowdown.

The company has no existing debts and will use internally generated cash, he added.

?We are one of the lucky ones, we don?t have debt,? Morado said. ?We try to not to stretch ourselves so we?re a lot better than most, even if money is tight.?

Morado said it would take a while to analyze the data. He estimates that it may take as long as two years to plan and analyze the seismic data before drilling a well.

Recently, Pitkin was awarded SC 71, covering 1.16 million hectares in the Mindoro-Cuyo basin. The company holds an 85-percent interest in the service contract, while the remaining 15 percent is held by South China Resources Inc.

The company also plans to bid for another petroleum service contract ?most probably in the Palawan area,? Morado said. ? Amy R. Remo