Kuwait Foreign Petroleum Exploration Co. (Kufpec), a subsidiary of Kuwait’s national oil company, has acquired a 26.8-percent working interest in the joint venture operating the Galoc oil field in offshore Palawan.
Australian firm Otto Energy Ltd. and its partners are poised to drill four wells within the year, pushing their respective exploration and development activities in Leyte and the Palawan basin.
In a regulatory filing, Otto Energy said two subsea wells would be drilled at the Galoc oil field—part of the Phase II development by the joint venture controlling Service Contract 14C.
The consortium operating SC 55 off Palawan, led by BHP Billiton, is still targeting to drill an exploration well before the end of its current subphase in August, while the group that operates the SC 51 license in Leyte hopes to drill an exploration well by the third quarter this year.
According to Otto Energy, development drilling at the Galoc oil field is scheduled to start by June 2013, with the first oil expected in the fourth quarter of the year. The two planned subsea wells may increase production to more than 12,000 barrels of oil per day (bopd) from the current average of 4,750 bopd.
During the first quarter this year, total production from the Galoc oil field stood at 434,801 barrels at a daily average of 4,831 barrels.
The Galoc joint venture was able to ship its 30th cargo of 365,621 barrels last March to a South Korean refinery. The shipment was priced at $111.953 a barrel. Its 31st cargo has already been sold and scheduled for delivery late this month.
Also, the SC55 consortium, according to Otto Energy, is currently preparing for the drilling of the Cinco-1 exploration well.
Otto Energy said all critical permits have been obtained, with the exception of the Strategic Environmental Plan Clearance from the Provincial Council for Sustainable Development, which was submitted to the Palawan provincial board in August 2012.
The Palawan provincial board has requested SC 55 operator BHP Billiton to submit a comprehensive socioeconomic development program for Palawan prior to releasing an endorsement of the clearance.
The SC 55 consortium is composed of BHP Billiton, which holds a 60-percent interest; Otto Energy Ltd. with 33.18 percent, and Trans-Asia Oil and Energy Development Corp. with 6.82 percent.
Exploration firm The Philodrill Corp. is targeting to breach the P2-billion net income mark in two to three years’ time as it anticipates higher revenues from the doubling of oil production at the Galoc oil field in offshore Palawan.
Production at the Galoc oil field as of end-December last year may have reached 8.46 million barrels, depleting about 68 percent of the estimated 12.4 million barrels in reserves within Service Contract 14C.
The joint venture operating the Galoc oil field in offshore Palawan is moving toward developing new prospective sites as oil production has already reached 7.54 million barrels as of end-June this year. The Galoc joint venture targets to extend the life of the field as total reserves within the area were estimated at only 10 [...]
