Australia’s Nido Petroleum seeks strategic partner

Australian oil firm Nido Petroleum Ltd. is scouting for a strategic partner to explore for oil and gas prospects in the northwest Palawan basin.

“Following recent positive responses from major oil companies, Nido is now commencing its formal search for a strategic partner to explore for oil and gas in the Palawan basin,” the company said.

Nido said based on its latest comprehensive inventory and several large seismic surveys of the basin, it has a total potential reserve of 11.6 billion barrels of oil.

The company said it has formally issued notice for industry players to submit expressions of interest to participate in the world-class, basin-wide exploration program.

Nido has been in the Philippines since 1995 and has accumulated an extensive technical database. In September 2004, the incumbent board and management elected to develop a core area in the Palawan basin in the Philippines.

At present, Nido has assembled a large contiguous acreage position covering 30,620 kilometers in the prolific Palawan basin and is now seeking a strategic partner to participate in a big-hit exploration portfolio.

Despite the possible entry of a partner, Nido said it intends to retain a minority working interest in the basin in order to participate in the success that it believes will result from the upcoming exploration drilling program.

Nido’s share of net revenues from the Galoc field will allow Nido to participate in drilling many, if not all, of its top 20 prospects within the next three to five years.

The farm-out will proceed through a series of steps, the first of which is to invite interested parties to submit expressions of interest to receive the information memorandum and to gain access to the data room.

Jon Pattillo, Nido’s head of exploration, said “securing a technically capable operator to partner with Nido in testing the significant deep-water potential of the Palawan basin in an important and consistent component of Nido’s exploration strategy.”

“Whilst not yet complete, the result of our seismic processing have so far generated a prospect and lead inventory that can be truly classified as world-class. Whilst much work remains to be down, commencing the search for a strategic partner represent an exciting event for Nido,” he said.

Jocot de Dios, Nido president and CEO, added that after 10 years of diligent effort, “we are delighted to reach this critical milestone.”

“Nido has long believed in the potential of the northwest Palawan basin to be an overlooked exploration province. Our efforts to date vindicated that view, and have revealed a potential prize greater than our expectations.”

“Given the sizes of the identified drilling targets, it is apparent that just one discovery has the potential to transform Nido. We intend to drill up to 20 of these large prospects over the coming years. This is an exciting era for Nido,” he said.