2 Chinese firms to expand drilling in RP

MANILA, Philippines - Two Chinese exploration companies will aggressively expand their presence in the Philippines next year, a ranking Department of Energy official said.

Energy Undersecretary Ramon Oca said the two Chinese firms are among the four companies that have earlier signified keen interest to drill more wells in the Philippine seas.

Oca said the two Chinese companies, Polyard Petroleum International Co. Ltd. and China International Mining and Petroleum Corp., would join NorAsian Energy Ltd. and Nido Petroleum Ltd. in exploratory drillings next year.

Polyard Petroleum operates the Central Luzon gas project under Service Contract 70, covering 6,840 square kilometers in the Central Luzon Basin. Aside from Polyard Petroleum’s 89 percent, other members of the SC 70 consortium are East Sun Mining and Power Exploration Co. and Cenozoil Energy.

Exploration activities have been conducted in Central Luzon Basin since the 1950s. Polyard Petroleum experts earlier said they are still determining exact reserves in the area but estimated it could contain around 1.7 billion cubic meters of gas.

Oca said China International Mining Petroleum Co. Ltd., which operates SC 49 in South Cebu, is also expected to start exploratory drilling next year.

The SC 49 block covers an area of 265,000 hectares and is partly onshore in Cebu island and partly offshore in Teton Strait and Cebu Strait.

Meanwhile, Nido Petroleum said it would also commence drilling in one of its service contracts next year but declined to identify the specific block.

Earlier, it said it expects to conduct drilling for its Gindara prospect in northwest Palawan within the first half of 2011. Nido holds 60 percent of SC 54 B while Kairiki Energy Ltd. holds the remaining 40-percent stake.

On the other hand, NorAsian operates SC 51 in Cebu. Its partners in the contract area are Trans-Asia Oil and Energy Development Corp., Alcorn Gold Resources Corp. and Petro-Energy Resources Corp.

Recoverable reserves at SC 51 are estimated at anywhere between five- and six-million barrels, but the oil in place is around 16 million barrels.