NIDO Petroleum Philippines Pty. Ltd. plans to drill new wells in the Cadlao oil field off Palawan province west of the Philippines, with exploration and appraisal activities potentially costing as much as $100 million (P6.3 billion) if the project advances to full development.
“The project aims to support the Philippine Energy Plan 2020-2040, which calls for the resumption of indigenous oil and gas exploration activities in offshore northwest Palawan to achieve energy independence,” the company said in a document submitted to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.
The operator plans to drill the Cadlao-4 well to assess the field’s oil potential. If results support commercial development, Nido Petroleum may drill one to three more wells.
The company estimated drilling costs at $18 million to $25 million per well.
Production would begin after exploration and appraisal activities confirm commercially recoverable hydrocarbon resources, it said.
Nido Petroleum is part of a consortium that includes Forum Energy Philippines Corp., The Philodrill Corp., Oriental Petroleum and Minerals Corp., Alcorn Petroleum and Minerals Corp. and PNOC Exploration Corp.
Forum Energy Philippines Corp. is a wholly owned unit of Forum Energy Ltd., in which PXP Energy Corp. holds an effective 98.08% interest.
The Department of Energy awarded the consortium Service Contract 91 in April after it applied for a development and production petroleum service contract to replace the expired Service Contract 6B.
Service Contract 91 covers about 103,000 hectares in the northwest Palawan basin and contains the Cadlao and Bonita discoveries as well as more than 20 identified prospects and leads.
“Each target well in the shallow water portion of SC 91 is estimated to hold 1 to 50 million barrels of oil,” Nido Petroleum said.
The Philippine Energy Plan targets the drilling of at least seven oil prospects and six gas fields and seeks to produce 116 million barrels of oil by 2040.
The Cadlao field was discovered in 1977 and produced about 11 million barrels of oil from 1981 to 1991.
Public scoping for the project is scheduled for Nov. 18-19 as part of the environmental impact assessment process. — Sheldeen Joy Talavera