Nido Petroleum commits up to US$100 million to Palawan drilling
The company plans to drill Cadlao-4 to assess commercial potential, with further wells conditional on a declaration of commerciality.
Nido Petroleum Philippines Pty. Ltd. has committed up to US$100 million for new oil and gas wells in Palawan. Its plans include drilling Cadlao-4 to evaluate whether the field can be commercially developed.
The company operates Service Contract 91 in the northwest Palawan basin. A document submitted to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources puts the estimated cost of each well at US$18 million to US$25 million.
Promising drilling results could lead to an extended test of three to nine months to establish the well’s production capacity. Nido has also committed to one to three additional development wells at Cadlao, conditional on a declaration of commerciality.
The government awarded the contract in April to a Nido-led consortium that includes Philodrill, Oriental Petroleum and Minerals Corp., Alcorn Petroleum and Minerals Corp. and Forum Energy Philippines Corp. The 10-year contract covers appraisal, development and production at Cadlao, where contingent oil resources are estimated at 6.2 million barrels.
Nido said its previous exploration work in the basin included 2D and 3D seismic surveys, drilling and extended well tests. It is now targeting smaller pinnacle reef prospects in the contract area’s shallower waters, which it describes as lower-risk. The company estimates that each target well there holds between one million and 50 million barrels of oil.
