New oil well to be drilled at Galoc field

MANILA, Philippines - The operator of the Galoc oil field in Palawan has tapped a contractor to drill a new well to extend the life of the oil field.

Australian oil and gas company Nido Petroleum Ltd. said its wholly owned subsidiary Galoc Production Co. W.L.L. has signed a binding rig contract with Golden Close Maritime Corp. Ltd. for the drillship “Deepsea Metro I” to drill the Galoc-7/7ST appraisal well.

Deepsea Metro I will be contracted by the Galoc consortium for a period of approximately four to five weeks, which can start in March.

The contract period consists of a firm well and an optional side track.

 “We are pleased to announce the execution of a binding rig contract with Golden Close Maritime Corp. Ltd to secure the Deepsea Metro I for the Galoc-7/7ST appraisal well and we look forward to drilling operations commencing in the Philippines as we seek to unlock the potential for extending the field life of our cornerstone asset,” Nido managing director Mike Fischer said.

Golden Close Maritime is a wholly owned subsidiary of Deepsea Metro Ltd. which is 40 percent owned by the Odfjell Drilling group, a key player in the upstream oil and gas industry since the 1970s.

The Galoc oil field in northwest Palawan showed promise for expansion in 2019 following a favorable third party assessment contracted by Nido Petroleum Ltd. and its partners.

Nido said Deepsea Metro I is a cutting edge sixth-generation drillship with dual derricks capable of operating in water depths of up to 10,000 feet and to drill to a total depth of 40,000 sub-sea.

The Galoc oil field is comprised of the producing Central Field Area and the un-drilled northern extension Galoc Mid Area, where drilling of Galoc-7 appraisal well is considered to determine contingent reserves.

In August last year, Nido said ODIN Reservoir Consultants Pty Ltd. completed an independent assessment, which is an update to the previous work by Gaffney Cline & Associates.

ODIN’s assessment showed the Galoc field is estimated to contain contingent resources of as low estimate (1C), 13.3 MMstb as best estimate (2C) and as highest estimate (3C).