Nido rushes development of Tindalo oil field

MANILA, Philippines - Australia-based oil and gas exploration company Nido Petroleum Ltd., plans to speed up the development of the Tindalo discovery in Northwest Palawan, a top company executive said.

In a statement, Nido president Jocot de Dios said fasttracking the exploration works would enable them to draw out the first oil in the area by 2010.

He said, the Tindalo project is expected to bring in more revenues for the company, on top of the existing Galoc oil field. Nido owns a 22 percent interest in Galoc.

As a major operator, Nido, on the other hand, owns a 60 percent stake in the Tindalo area under Service Contract (SC) 54. Another Australian firm, Kairiki Energy Ltd., controls the remaining 40 percent.

“The strategic impact of this development is to reduce the company’s reliance on any single cashflow stream and to deliver ongoing revenue,” the Nido official said.

The Tindalo exploration area is adjacent to the Malampaya deep water gas-to-power project and Galoc fields. These projects are two of the major oil finds in the country.

Earlier, Kairiki divested a portion of its shares in SC 54 to Focus Oil and Gas SC54 Pte Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Focus Oil and Gas Pte Ltd of Singapore.

It would be noted that there are other oil discovery activities such as Yakal under SC 54.

The Yakal and Tindalo discoveries are the first in 14 years in the Philippines. The recent oil finds were drilled in September and October 2008, respectively.

De Dios said they expect the contribution of Tindalo to boost the company’s total output production.

He said with Tindalo, their production may double within a one-year period. Nido is currently producing 15,000 barrels of oil per day in its Galoc oil field.

Joanne Williams, Nido deputy managing director, said they hope to raise additional funds from the Tindalo oil development to finance other SC 54 activities.

“The initial Tindalo development is expected to fund and support the subsequent development of the remaining inboard area of SC54, which includes three further discoveries and as many as 20 follow-up, low risk drilling targets.”