Nido, Total team up for oil search projs

MANILA, Philippines - Australia-based Nido Petroleum Ltd. has joined forces with Total of the UK to bid for areas under the Philippine Energy Contracting Round (PECR) 4.

 In a report, Nido said its Philippine subsidiary and Total have executed a joint study and bid agreement (JSBA) to evaluate exploration acreage released in the PECR 4 by the Department of Energy (DOE).

“On behalf of partner Total, Nido will undertake technical and commercial evaluations of all 15 blocks contained in the PECR 4 acreage release,” Nido Petroleum Philippines chief executive officer Jocot de Dios said.

For his part, Nido head of exploration Jon Pattillo said, “PECR 4 is the first release of new acreage by the DOE for a number of years and offers a diverse range of exploration potential across multiple basins, providing Nido with the opportunity to potentially augment its exploration asset base within the Philippines.”

Total, which has downstream operations in the Philippines, is also engaged in the upstream business which encompasses oil and natural gas exploration, development and production, along with our coal, gas and power activities.

Total has exploration and production activities in more than 40 countries, with production in 30 of these countries. Its main production regions are the North Sea, Africa and the Middle East, followed by Southeast Asia and North and South America.

PECR 4 is a competitive bid round with the submission of bids for the various blocks being offered due between April and July 2012. The award of blocks to the successful bidder is expected to be in the second half of 2012.