Coal Asia eyes stake in Palawan oil project

MANILA, Philippines - An affiliate of soon-to-list Coal Asia Holdings Inc., is acquiring a stake in VenturOil Philippines Inc., part-owner of the Cadlao oil redevelopment project in the northwest Palawan basin.

Collosal Petroleum Corp. and VenturOil have 90 days to work out the terms of the acquisition, which is subject to the approval of the Department of Energy.

VenturOil holds a 20-percent interest in Service Contract 6 Cadlao and a 12.88-percent stake in the adjacent SC6 Bonita block.

An independent valuation of Venturoil’s Service Contract 6 has placed the value at between $96 million and $190 million.

The Cadlao prospect has probable reserves of 6.05 million barrels of oil and could produce over 11,400 barrels of oil per day with gross cash flows of over $315 million by 2013. It was developed in 1981 and produced about 11 million barrels of light oil from two wells prior to its closure in 1991 owing to high operating costs and low oil prices.

The redevelopment of the Cadlao site is said to be compelling based on recent studies that showed large volumes of oil remained in the reservoir.

Australian oil firms Blade Petroleum and Raisama Energy also hold a stake in the Cadlao prospect.

Meanwhile, the P800-million initial public offering of Coal Asia, which has the potential to become the biggest producer of high-grade bituminous coal, will kick off on Oct. 9 to15 and the listing of the shares is scheduled on Oct. 23.