Australia's Nido Petroleum to review oil and gas potentials of RP basins

MANILA, Philippines - Australian oil and gas exploration firm Nido Petroleum Ltd. said yesterday it will undertake a study to review the oil and gas potential of Philippine basins.

In a statement, Nido said the study will commence this month, with Phase 1 running through until the end of the year.

“Depending on the outcome of the initial basin screening exercise, Phase 2 of the study will be entered into which will take a more detailed look at high-graded basin prospects and continue to the end of March 2010,” Nido said.

The company noted that based on various investment forums it had attended, prospects remain bright for oil and gas exploration in the Philippines.

“Nido had just participated in oil and energy conferences in Perth and New York City where a number of our peers were also present. The mood seems to be guardedly optimistic and there appears a return to a sense of calm to world markets. As we continue to entertain interest from potential partners for our current blocks, this returning confidence, albeit cautious, is making companies including Nido see a clearer way forward for next year,” it said.

With this optimism, Nido said they would continue to conduct their seismic studies in Philippine waters and nearby exploration areas.

“In Service Contract (SC) 63, we have made significant strides with our sub-surface interpretation with joint venture partner PNOC-EC to better understand this geologically complex part of the Northwest Palawan Basin and an extension of the prolific basins offshore Brunei and Sabah, Malaysia,” it added.

Nido said there is a need to focus on areas where there are already studies of possible potential reserves.

“We have concentrated our exploration efforts in the southern sector of the block around the Aboabo gas discovery made by Phillips Petroleum in the early 1980s. Our initial East Sabina 2D reconnaissance survey acquired in 2008 has helped to define a number of prospective trends around the Aboabo well, but has not provided us with the level of seismic definition needed to mature the multiple leads to prospect level,” it said.

The company said it would aggressively expand its studies on these areas. “To bring the multiple leads into focus and address structural and reservoir risk, Nido will acquire an 840-square kilometer 3D seismic survey next month. The survey will be acquired by seismic contractor PGS Asia Pacific and we have already started preliminary operations for this project by acquiring a high resolution bathymetry survey over the planned 3D area,” it said.

“This survey, which is ongoing and being acquired by TriNav, is an important prelude to the 3D survey, providing detailed information on the location of sea-bed features such as reefs. The survey is also a key part of our environmental risk management planning ahead of the 3D survey,” Nido added.

These activities, Nido said, further bolster an already credible list of drilling targets within the southern portion of SC 63 which lies along the same area of the Aboabo gas discovery.

In addition, Nido said they would also be putting more efforts to its other exploration areas.

“In our SC 58 deepwater block, Nido is in the planning process for the multi-beam and sea-bed coring project. We have just completed a detailed technical and commercial assessment of tenders for this work,” it said.