Unocal mulls oil search venture in Galoc area

The Unocal group is looking at the possibility of exploring for oil and gas in the Galoc field in Northwest Palawan.

US-based Unocal Corp.’s subsidiary in the Philippines, Unocal Sulu Ltd., signed recently an agreement with a Filipino exploration consortium led by Alcorn (Production) Philippines Inc. and Nido Petroleum of Australia to carry out a phased study of the Galoc oil and gas discovery in service contract (SC) 14 in the Philippines.

The phased study is intended to determine the economic feasibility of the Galoc field. It will also give Unocal the option to farm-in to the service contract. Unocal did not indicate how much will be spent for the phased study.

Unocal said phase 1 of the study, expected to be completed within six to nine months, would consist of seismic reprocessing and interpretation, geological and reservoir engineering studies as well as preliminary facilities analysis.

Phase 2 involves a more detailed technical analysis and engineering design.

Contingent upon the outcome of the phase II analysis, Unocal will become a full partner in the service contract at which time it will purchase all rights to the seismic data.

The Galoc discovery was made in 1981 in a water depth of 1,100 feet. Recoverable reserves are currently estimated in the range of 30-50 million barrels of oil. Given the marginal reserve size and deep water setting, it is felt that Unocal’s industry leading low cost approach to deep water operations provides the best chance for a successful development.

Current operator Alcorn (Production) Philippines Inc. is joined in Block SC 14C by fellow Philippine companies: Alcorn Philippines, Alcorn Gold Resources, Oriental Petroleum and Minerals, Linapacan Oil, Gas and Power, The Philodrill Corp., Altisima Energy, Basic Petroleum and Minerals, Petroenergy Resources and Phoenix Energy, as well as Perth-based Nido Petroleum.

Unocal Corp. is one of the world’s largest independent natural gas and crude oil exploration and production companies.

Based in California, Unocal’s principal production operations are in North America and Asia. Unocal is also one of the world’s largest producers of geothermal energy with operations in Indonesia and the Philippines.