Nido Petroleum, Total E&P agree to evaluate oil, gas acreage under PECR4

MANILA, Philippines — Australian Nido Petroleum Ltd. and Total E&P Activités Pétrolières of France have forged an agreement to conduct a joint evaluation of the oil and gas exploration acreage offered to investors under Philippine Energy Contracting Round 4.

In a regulatory filing, Nido Petroleum chief executive officer JV Emmanuel de Dios explained that the joint study and bid agreement (‘JSBA’) will allow Nido, in behalf of its partner Total, to undertake technical and commercial evaluations of all the 15 prospective petroleum blocks.

Nido Petroleum has a 30 percent interest in the JSBA while the remaining 70 percent will be held by Total.

“We are very pleased to be partnering with Total for the PECR 4 bid round and look forward to working with Total for this project,” noted Jon Pattillo, head of exploration for Nido Petroleum.

“PECR 4 is the first release of new acreage by the Philippines DOE for a number of years and offers a diverse range of exploration potential across multiple basins, providing Nido with the opportunity to potentially augment its exploration asset base within the Philippines,” Pattillo explained.

According to Nido Petroleum, interested companies have between April and July 2012 to submit their respective bid offers for the petroleum blocks they are eyeing. Awarding of the contracts to explore and develop these blocks is expected within the second half of 2012.

The PECR 4, which was launched last June 30, is envisioned to address the Philippines’ energy supply through the exploration of local indigenous resources. Harnessing local resources is expected to help the country meet its daily demand and reduce the importation of petroleum and petroleum products.

The Department of Energy said it has been expecting at least $7.5 billion worth of initial investments to be infused in the local oil and gas sector over the next several years, should all the 15 contracts be awarded to investors.

The amount approximates the maximum investments required during the exploration stage alone, Energy Secretary Jose Rene D. Almendras earlier said.

During the exploration stage, companies will be drilling three to five wells. Should these companies push through with their petroleum projects, the actual development and production may require bigger investments.

The 15 areas being offered are located in Cagayan, Central Luzon, Northwest Palawan, Mindoro-Cuyo, East Palawan, Cotabato and the Sulu Sea.

The DOE said resources from nine out of these 15 areas have been estimated to hold as much as 5.48 billion barrels of oil and 39 trillion cubic feet of gas. These are interesting areas that will give investors a good possibility of finding gas and oil, according to the DOE.