Consortium revisits oil in West Linapacan block off Palawan

MANILA, Philippines - A consortium of foreign and local companies has revisited an oil site in Palawan for its remaining potential reserves. In a disclosure to the Australian Securities Exchange on Monday, Nido Petroleum Ltd. said it had started a feasibility study of West Linapacan, which is 40 kilometers from the island of Palawan. The Energy department noted that while the contribution of the block would not be significant, it will reduce the country’s import bill and create more jobs. Pitkin Petroleum Ltd. recently acquired a 58% stake in the block, which it bought from members of the joint venture. Texas-based oil and gas explorer Pitkin is engaged in small-scale oil production in Louisiana and is looking at exploring in Vietnam and Peru. Nido has 22% interest in the venture. Other stakeholders in the field include Oriental Petroleum and Minerals Corp., Philodrill Corp., Forum Energy PLC, Alcorn Petroleum and Minerals Corp. and Petro Energy Resources Corp. "The key objectives of this work will be to assess the viability of a fast-tracked redevelopment opportunity at the West Linapacan A oil field, to look at the potential development of the West Linapacan B discovery and investigate any other exploration opportunities within the block," Nido Deputy Managing Director Joanne Williams said. "We look forward to working closely with Pitkin to realize the full potential of these fields," she added. West Linapacan A was discovered in the early 1990s, and following the drilling and completion of three vertical subsea wells, produced oil from 1992 to 1996. The field had a peak production of more than 18,000 barrels of oil per day, but so-called early water breakthrough occurred following what was believed to be a high individual well production rate. This has resulted in a significant portion of the recoverable oil from the field being bypassed during the first production phase. The field has been closed for more than 12 years and will most likely have returned to near its preproduction state. This, according to the joint venture, now presents an opportunity to redevelop the field, possibly in conjunction with a development of the nearby unproduced West Linapacan B oil discovery. Results of the studies are expected within the next nine to 12 months, when further investment decisions will be made. — Ava Kashima K. Austria, BusinessWorld