Frontier Oil ups stake in SC 69

MANILA, Philippines - Frontier Oil Corp. (FOC), an Australia-listed exploration company, has raised its stake and assumed operations of Service Contract (SC) 69, a move that would further strengthen its position in the upstream oil sector in the Philippines.

FOC chief executive Kris Fellowes said the company has raised its equity in SC 69 to 50 percent from the previous 15 percent.

As a result, FOC is now the operator of the exploration block in the offshore section of the Visayan Basin.

“With FOC increasing its stake in SC 69 and taking on operatorship, the company now has a firm foothold in each of the three most prospective basins in the Philippines in terms of exploration – Palawan, Cagayan and the Visayan Basins – the latter being opportunistic given the relinquishment of the acreage by the former operator,” said Fellowes.

Otto Energy, another Australia-listed company, formerly operated SC 69.

Fellowes said the recent announcement of Otto Energy of an extension in the work program of SC 55 in offshore Palawan would allow Frontier to benefit from “the spoils of the upside through the back-in option that it holds over the exploration block.”

Despite the oil price slump, FOC remains optimistic on the country’s upstream oil industry.