Nido, French firm to hold joint study of PECR 4 areas

Australian firm 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 said the joint study and bid agreement (JSBA) allowed 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.

The JSBA will allow both parties to choose which among the areas offered by the Philippine government will fit their respective petroleum exploration portfolios.

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

Interested companies are required to submit their respective bids for the petroleum blocks they are interested in between April and July 2012. Awarding of the contracts to explore and develop these blocks was slated for the second half of 2012.

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

The DOE said it was expecting at least $7.5 billion worth of initial investments to be infused into the local oil and gas sector over the next several years, should all the 15 contracts be awarded.

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

During the exploration stage, companies will be drilling three to five wells. Bigger investments would be needed if these companies would decided to push through with their petroleum projects.

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

According to the DOE, nine out of the 15 areas were estimated to be holding as much as 5.48 billion barrels of oil and 39 trillion cubic feet of gas.