DOE Awarded Nine New Service Contracts

The Department of Energy (DOE) awarded anew nine new service contracts for oil and gas development. The DOE has processed nine petroleum exploration areas which were bid out in the last Philippine Energy Contracting Round that closed last May. The DOE awarded the contracts for these exploration blocs last September, barring any hitches on the part of investors. Most of the awardees are local companies with foreign partners. The contract areas covered a total of 71,357.30 square kilometers located within the prospective basins of East Palawan and Mindoro-Cuyo; and in the promising basins of Cagayan, Central Luzon, Visayas and Agusan-Davao. The service contract areas will generate a conservative $180m in revenues for the country, as a single drilling for an offshore well costs about $20m. The DOE also reported that in 2006, it had granted seven oil exploration contracts, three of which were in Palawan; SC-58 at the west Calamian Block, Northwest of Palawan with Nido Petroleum undertaking the contract. Another was the west Balabac/Southwest Palawan under SC-59 by the PNOC-EC and at the Northeast Palawan under SC-60 by Shell Philippines Exploration (SPEX). Four other service contracts have been awarded to the Petroleum sector of the Philippine Energy Contracting Round (PECR) in 2005, and they were undertaken in Palawan and Sulu seas, the DOE added. The DOE website data revealed that explorations in 2006 included Nido Petroleum's 3D seismic data and survey of a 581 sq. kms of seas that are still being carried out until the target of 824 sq. kms are achieved. Another six exploration companies -- Shell Philippines Exploration, CNOOC, Nido Petroleum, NorAsian, PNOC-EC and Mitra Energy have acquired a total of 11,168 line km of seas for their 2D seismic surveys. The DOE also reported that as of November 2006, the Phiodrill Corp. produced 162,963 barrels of crude oil while Nido and Matinloc Fields in offshore Palawan have produced 106,939 and 156,024 barrels, respectively. Shell Philippines Exploration (SPEX), on the other hand, produced some 103,328.98 mmscf of gas and 4,908,180.87 barrels of condensate from its Malampaya field, while PNOC-EC had produced a total of 292.89 mmscf of gas from its San Antonio field in Isabela, the DOE website report said As of January this year, the DOE said it has approved 28 active service contracts; one geophysical survey and exploration in the Reed Bank Basin and another term of service signed on March 17, 2006, for the PNOC-EC Camago-Malampaya oil leg. Finally, the DOE said that petroleum reserves in the country in 2005 totaled 456-million barrels of fuel oil equivalent that is composed of 25-million barrels of oil; 2.135-billion cu.ft. of gas and 54-million barrels of condensate. These petroleum reserves estimates, according to DOE, are based on the 16 sedimentary basins situated all over the country from the Cagayan Valley Basin to the Agusan-Davao Basin, including the prolific Northeast Palawan and the Sulu Sea Basins. The current oil/gas exploration at the Tanon Strait, if found to be of commercial value, is expected to boost the country's oil reserves and improve the energy capacity of the Visayan regions. [Source: http://news.balita.ph]