PXPENERGY.COM.PH

PXP ENERGY CORP. is seeking approval from President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. for four petroleum service contract applications covering continued production and new exploration activities, according to its top official.

The company owns four of the eight contracts pending a decision from the Office of the President, PXP President Daniel Stephen P. Carlos told reporters last week.

PXP has applied for a development and production petroleum service contract (DP PSC) — a new type of contract that covers expiring agreements with ongoing production — for the Cadlao Oil Field, replacing SC 6B Block, which expired in February last year.

“So January 2024, we applied for DP PSC so that we’ll have time to drill Cadlao-4… and then if the results are positive, re-develop Cadlao,” Mr. Carlos said.

The DP PSC covers the former SC 6B Block, along with additional open areas, totaling 1,030.34 square kilometers.

Mr. Carlos said the company — in talks with operator Nido Petroleum — plans to drill a new well estimated to cost around $20-30 million.

Forum Energy Limited (FEL), in which PXP holds a 99.35% controlling interest, is a company incorporated in the United Kingdom that focuses on the Philippines.

FEL has minority interests in the SC 6 and SC 14 sub-blocks offshore northwest Palawan, including a 3.21% interest in the producing Galoc Field, held through Forum Energy Philippines Corp.

Mr. Carlos said the company also filed for a DP PSC for the Galoc Field under SC 14C-1 to allow continued production beyond 2025.

PXP said the Galoc Field, which has produced over 25 million barrels of oil since October 2008, “continues to be commercially viable despite natural production decline.”

“Hopefully, if the President approves this new contract this year, we can continue producing in Galoc beyond December 2025,” Mr. Carlos said.

For new prospects, PXP, along with its joint venture partners, is awaiting approval from the Office of the President for its applications for two blocks located in the Sulu Sea under the first conventional energy bid round in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

“The group looks forward to commencing activities in this underexplored petroleum province, where previous studies and drilling efforts have indicated favorable geological indicators for commercial hydrocarbon discoveries,” the company said.

PXP said it continues to coordinate with the Department of Energy regarding the lifting of the suspension and the potential resumption of activities in SC 72 in Recto Bank and SC 75 in northwest Palawan amid maritime disputes between the Philippines and China in the West Philippine Sea.

“We remain fully prepared to resume our exploration programs as soon as we receive formal and definitive approval from the relevant governing agencies,” PXP said. — Sheldeen Joy Talavera