Tindalo oil output total 56,708 barrels in 2 weeks

The Tindalo field in Northwest Palawan produced 56,708 barrels of oil, two weeks after crude first flowed from the well this month, its Australian operator said Tuesday. Nido Petroleum Ltd., whose shares of stock are traded on the Australian Stock Exchange, said the well, named Tindalo-1, is presently producing at a restricted rate of 6,000 barrels of oil per day (bpd). The limited flow rate is for “operational purposes" as the water processing equipment is not functioning properly, the company said. The equipment will be replaced in the coming days, after which Nido Petroleum will raise the flow rate to optimum levels of 15,000 to 18,700 bpd, the company said in a disclosure to the ASE. With the two-week production of 56,708 barrels of oil, the company said that 5,384 barrels of water also flowed from Tindalo-1. "Produced water samples are being analysed in Singapore to confirm the water source. Nido advises that it will provide a further update to the market once the reservoir management plan has been finalised including the optimised rate for the EWT (extended well test), " the company said. Nido also said in an earlier disclosure to the ASE that the Tindalo-1 oil well in northwest Palawan achieved maximum flow rates of 18,689 barrels per day on natural flow, surpassing the company's pre-test expectations. The company estimated that the Tindalo field’s recoverable volume would range from 1.5 million to 9.1 million barrels or 5.1 million barrels on average. Tindalo-1’s production is being stockpiled at the rig and will eventually be sold, according to the company. Emmanuel J.V. De Dios, president of Nido Petroleum, said that the money generated by the consortium from Tindalo-1 would be plowed back to finance the drilling and exploration program in Palawan over the next two years. Nido Petroleum holds a 42.4-percent stake in service contract 54, which pertains to the Tindalo field. Its partner Kairiki Energy Ltd. holds a 30.1-percent interest in SC 54, with TG World Energy Corp. having 12.5 percent, and Trafigura Ventures III B.V. has a 15.1-percent share in the venture. The company discovered the oil field in October 2008, and the partners went ahead to develop Tindalo-1 in December 2009. It has identified over 20 prospects in shallow waters, with an estimated 200 million barrels of potential oil reserves. "Tindalo is only one of several discoveries in Nido’s shallow-water acreage which has the potential to become a significant cash generator," De Dios said. The results of Tindalo has raised the possibility of scoring “a success at the Gindara prospect which lies just outboard of this trend" and made the consortium keener to go on with its drilling and exploration campaign, he added. —VS, GMANews.TV