The 9,000 square kilometers of the Marantao area (Service Contract (SC) 55) lies southwest off the island of Palawan and is said to contain an estimated 1,812 billion cubic feet of gas and 567 million barrels of oil.
This was based on seismic data collected during 1970 ~ 1990. The area is also near the Philippine’s Malampaya oil and gas field, where natural gas is currently being extracted for commercial use.
A new seismic survey is slated to begin again August this year till next year. It will be conducted by Trans-Asia Oil and Energy Development Corp after their application was approved by the Department of Energy. If everything turns out ok, drilling on the area is expected to begin by 2010.
The Marantao prospect contract is jointly owned by Trans-Asia (15%) and Otto Energy Ltd. of Australia (85%).
Galoc oil field off the coast of Palawan is the only well currently pumping out oil in the Philippines. It produces about 20,000 barrels per day or roughly 6% of the Philippines daily oil consumption.
Oil exploration in the Philippines has only recently ramped up, with the Department of Energy aggressively shopping out permits to oil exploration companies
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Category: Oil
