Galoc oil field production hits 10M barrels

PRODUCTION at the Galoc oil field in offshore Palawan was estimated to have reached close to 10 million barrels as of end-2012, depleting roughly 69 percent of the 14.4 million barrels of projected reserves in the block covered by Service Contract 14C1.

Australian firm Nido Petroleum Ltd., which holds a 22.88-percent stake in the service contract, said in a regulatory filing that production in the fourth quarter alone reached 464,051 barrels at an average daily production of 5,044 barrels of oil a day (bopd). Previous reports showed that production in the first half of 2012 reached 534,405 barrels and 464,051 barrels in the third quarter, bringing total production  to 9.94 million barrels as of end-2012 from the 8.46 million barrels reported as of end-2011.

Two cargoes carrying a total of 353,463 barrels were also sold and shipped during the fourth quarter last year.

According to Nido Petroleum, the operator of the Galoc oil field (Galoc Production Co.) has ordered the subsea flow-lines and ancillary equipment necessary for the $188-million Phase II development, which will see the drilling of two new wells that can increase the field’s gross production from Phase I levels of 5,200 bopd to a combined field rate of 12,000 bopd.

Phase II is also expected to lead to the recovery of an additional 8 million barrels of crude from the field.

Nido Petroleum added that the operator of SC 14C1 has also issued a proposal to drill a third well in the northern area of the Galoc oil field following the completion of the two wells under Phase II.

In late 2011, the Galoc joint venture began the engineering design work for Phase II, which included detailed subsurface modelling of the reservoir, drilling and completion design, subsea engineering and  tie-back design for new wells as well as joint venture project financing. Apart from these works, the acquisition of 184 kilometers of new 3D seismic data was also completed in late 2011, covering the Galoc field and adjacent Galoc North exploration prospect.

Aside from Nido Petroleum, Australian firm Otto Energy Ltd., through its wholly owned subsidiary Galoc Production Co. WLL, also owns a 33-percent stake in the SC 14C license. The rest of the stake is held by Galoc Production Co. Pte. Ltd. (26.84473 percent); Oriental Petroleum and Minerals Corp. and Linapacan Oil Gas and Power Corp. (7.78505 percent); Philodrill Corp. (7.21495 percent), and Forum Energy Philippines Corp. (2.27575 percent).