Burgundy Global Exploration Corp. (BGEC), a local oil and gas exploration company, has intensified its drilling operations in the country with its purchase a seismic vessel worth $86 million.
“We just purchased a seismic vessel, a first for a Filipino company, for $86 million with Balenciaga of Spain which will arrive in 2009. We will use it to help explore others possible areas in the country,” BGEC vice president Michael Louis H. Sia told reporters.
While preparing for the oil drilling prospects, Sia said they are currently conducting further evaluation on the company’s two existing service contracts – SC 61 and SC 62.
SC 61 covers 13,560 square kilometers located in a deep-water area offshore of northeast Palawan while SC 62 is situated in a 13,020 square-kilometer exploration area in offshore East Balabac in Southeast Sulu Sea near the Malaysian border.
BGEC bagged these two service contracts during the Philippine Energy Contracting Round launched in August 2005.
Earlier, the oil exploration firm said it would be pouring in some P4 billion for these two oil drilling projects.
Specifically, BGEC is expected to invest up to $44.9 million over a seven-year exploration period.
This investment will be used to finance a six sub-phase program which includes the conduct of comprehensive geological and geophysical studies and the drilling of four exploration wells.
For SC 62, BGEC has committed some $43.85 million worth of investment to cover a seven-year exploration period.