Firm to start drilling in Galoc oil prospect

Sunday, August 6th 2006

Australian firm Nido Petroleum Ltd. has announced that it is set to kick off drilling for the Galoc oil field development prospect in northwest Palawan; with the first oil yield expected fourth quarter 2007.

The company has secured rig contract for the drilling of three wells, which will consist of two firm wells and an option well.

The Galoc development wells will be drilled using Energy Searcher, a drillship managed by Jet Drilling, which is expected on-site by June next year.

The Australian firm added that subsea trees have also been secured for refurbishment and use in the development.

“The Energy Searcher will be the first offshore rig in Palawan in 6 years,” said Nido Philippines president Bryce Martin.

Once the estimated reserve of 17,5000 barrels of oil per day will be realized, he noted that this will represent roughly 7.5-percent of the country’s oil imports and will likewise double current domestic production.

“The development of the Galoc oil field is the largest single investment in Nido’s history”¦It is a tremendous credit to the planning capability and effort of the operator over the past six months,” added deputy managing director Joanne Williams.

The Galoc field is situated in Block C of service Contract 14, and is approximately 70 kilometer west of Culion island in Palawan, in a water with 290 meters depth.

Nido Petroleum currently holds 22.27-percent working interest in the project , which is operated by Galoc Production Company.

Two exploration and appraisal wells were already drilled in the Galoc field in the 80s; and produced over 385,000 barrels of oil during an extended production test in 1988.

The Aussie firm emphasized that the first phase of the Galoc field development will be two subsea horizontal wells connected via a seabed flowline and riser system to a floating, production, storage and offloading facility.

Nido forecasts highly productive horizontal wells, with each initially capable of producing up to 15,000 barrels of oil per day.(MMV)