PNOC unit prepares to drill exploration well in northwest Palawan

MANILA, Philippines—The PNOC Exploration Corp., the upstream oil and coal arm of state-run Philippine National Oil Co., has begun preparations for the drilling of an exploration well within northwest Palawan.

This well is expected to allow PNOC-EC to tap any of the two more prospective sites within the field covered by Service Contract (SC) 63. These sites were earlier identified as the Aboabo discovery and the Kalapato site, which were estimated to hold 222 million barrels and 239 million barrels of oil, respectively.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange on Wednesday, the PNOC-EC, as operator of the field, has begun the detailed pre-planning for SC 63.

“The initial phase of work will focus on fully ‘resourcing’ the drilling and subsurface teams, implementing pre-planning activities including securing long lead items for up to two wells and completing the basis of design work for a number of possible well options,” PNOC-EC said.

Based on the latest drilling project schedule, PNOC-EC expects the SC 63 well to be drilled anytime between June and July 2012, subject to availability of a suitable rig.

“The planned drilling window based on the latest schedule fits well with the requirement to drill the SC 63 commitment well before the end of the current subphase on November 24, 2012,” PNOC-EC added.

PNOC-EC holds a 50-percent interest in SC 63 and is the field operator, while the remaining 50 percent is held by Australian firm Nido Petroleum Ltd.

SC 63 is located at the northeast end of the Tertiary-aged offshore fold and thrust belt, which was reported to be a “prolific hydrocarbon province.” The belt extends from Brunei through Sabah, Malaysia, and into the southern Palawan basin.