ExxonMobil set to drill anew by end-August

Exploration company ExxonMobil Exploration and Production Philippines BV — an affiliate of Exxon Mobil Corp. — will start drilling the fourth well in offshore South Sulu Sea by end-August. The Energy Department said Friday ExxonMobil is now conducting plug-and-abandon procedures for its third well called Palendag-1A, and then the rig will transfer to a new site called Babendil-1. Palendag-1A was under service contract (SC) 56 that includes the gas-rich Sandakan Basin. SC 56 covers an area of 8,200 square kilometers. Energy Undersecretary Ramon Oca said ExxonMobil will spend another $100 million for the drilling of Babendil-1. "ExxonMobil plans to drill in SC 56 a fourth exploration well to a total depth of 4,531 meters or 14,865 feet using the drilling rig, West Aquarius," Energy Secretary Rene Almendras said. Almendras said the Exxon's three exploratory wells have provided government with "very useful data." He said the three drilling operations of ExxonMobil under SC 56 showed positive for gas. "The data will now be analyzed by ExxonMobil. Studies are being conducted to integrate the results of all the wells into a further geologic understanding of the block's potential," Almendras said. ExxonMobil holds a 50-percent stake and operator of SC 56, while Mitra Energy (Philippines) Ltd. holds 25 percent and BHP Billiton (International Exploration Pty. Ltd.), 25 percent. SC 56 is part of the Philippine government's efforts to encourage investments in the energy sector. ExxonMobil officials refused to give the reserves of SC 56 but the Energy Department estimates it to contain about 750 million barrels of oil that can supply the domestic market for a period of seven years. ExxonMobil, whose headquarters is located in Texas, is the world's largest publicly-traded international oil and gas company. —JE, GMANews.TV