THE Department of Energy of the Philippines has said the operator of the Galoc oil field in Palawan may drill two new wells “either for additional production or to keep production at current levels.”

Energy undersecretary Ramon Oca has told reporters that Galoc Production Co (GPC) and other consortium members of Service Contract 14 in Northwest Palawan are presently assessing seismic data to determine whether to proceed with the additional drilling.“Galoc might drill two new wells – it could be two appraisal wells. They are still assessing the data. They’re reviewing existing data and the decision to drill two more wells will depend on the results of the review of the data,” Oca says.

The energy official says the Galoc field is presently producing 10,700 barrels of oil per day. “Even as they are producing now, it generates more new data,” he says. Australian firm Nido Petroleum, one of the consortium members, has already raised the possibility of entering the second phase of its oil drilling activities under SC 14.

“The Galoc joint venture continues to assess further facility and subsurface development options for Phase 2 of the Galoc oil field development,” Nido says. Nido says it is presently updating its reserves assessment of the Galoc oil field to incorporate performance data through the end of September.

“We will advise the market once this work is concluded in early 2010,” it adds.

The Galoc consortium, meanwhile, has made its ninth shipment to Korea and the 10th shipment to Thailand, an industry source said. Its eighth shipment was sold to oil giant Petron Corp. This is the second time the local refiner bought its crude requirement from the Galoc field.“There is a second cargo bought by Petron,” the source said.Galoc lies within SC 14 in 300 meters of water, some 60 kilometers offshore of Palawan Island. The Galoc reservoir lies 2,200 meters below the sea floor, with its first production on October 9, 2008.

GPC, which owns 58.29 per cent in the consortium, is composed of the Vitol Group (68.6 per cent), an international oil company, and Otto Energy of Australia (31.4 per cent).

Other members of the consortium are Nido with 22.8 per cent; Oriental Petroleum and Minerals Corp, 7.57 per cent; The Philodrill Corp, 7.03 per cent; UK firm Forum Energy Philippines Corp, 2.27 per cent; Alcorn Gold Resources Corp, 1.53 per cent and PetroEnergy Resources Corp, 1.03 per cent.