Ratio Petroleum has identified two possible petroleum plays with over 20 leads in its Service Contract (SC) No. 76 Block, the Department of Energy (DOE) said.
In a meeting with Energy Secretary Raphael Lotilla, Ratio Petroleum said that they will continue to study these leads for them to become prospects for well drilling and confirm the presence of oil and gas deposits in the area.
“It is timely that we reinvigorate our petroleum exploration activities. While it is capital-intensive to carry out exploration programs, with the depletion of the Malampaya reservoir and the continuing volatility of fossil fuel prices in the past years, we need an aggressive push to explore for new oil and gas fields for the furtherance of our energy security,” Energy undersecretary Alessandro Sales said in a statement.
SC 76 is located on the northern side of the East-Palawan Basin with an area of 648,000 hectares and water depths ranging from 80 to 1700 meters.
Ratio Petroleum has a seven-year exploration period under its contract, with the first phase covering the acquisition of 2D seismic data, which began in October 2018.
Following the first phase, the company revealed that the sedimentary fill basin reaches more than 10 kilometers in local depocenters, which provides favorable conditions for a petroleum kitchen.
To add, data from wells within and near the basin indicate the presence of several organic-rich intervals in both terrestrial and marine origins.
Seismic data also showed that the Northern East-Palawan Basin contains a well-developed slope-to-basin channel system, which resulted in extensive accumulations of turbidite deposits interbedded with fine pelagic clastics.
Isolated carbonate buildups have also been interpreted with SC 76, which are located just above and on the margins of volcanic, providing a potential for large structures and excellent reservoirs, the DOE said.
“Ratio Petroleum’s initial work program has resulted in the identification of numerous leads that emphasize the prospectiveness of the basin. Several leads show clear anomalies, which supports the concept of the basin being gas-prone,” Sales said.
Sales added that Ratio Petroleum is looking for a partner “to participate in unlocking the basin’s potential at the early stages of exploration.”
“This would be an opportunity for interested parties to take part in the next phase of planning and acquiring 3D seismic data, which will further define the full potential of SC 76,” Sales said.
SC 76 was awarded to Ratio Petroleum in October 2018.
Photo from Ratio Petroleum’s website