Philippines: Galoc Field Resumes Production

Philippines: Galoc Field Resumes Production

The Galoc Production Company (GPC), operator of the Galoc oil field offshore Palawan in the Philippines, advises that production has restarted from the Galoc field on 2 April 2012 following a planned shutdown for refurbishment of the Floating Production Storage and Offloading vessel (FPSO).

During the shutdown, the FPSO Rubicon Intrepid has undergone planned re-certification, maintenance, inspection and turret installation work. The most significant work scope has been the installation of a bow mounted, non-disconnectable turret mooring system to replace the previous disconnectable system.

The upgrade of the FPSO mooring system is expected to increase the reliability and uptime of the FPSO and is a crucial component of infrastructure to enable the Galoc Joint Venture to move ahead with a potential Phase II development of the Galoc field.

  Gregor McNab, Chief Executive Officer of Otto Energy Ltd, of which GPC is a fully owned subsidiary, said:

“The safe and on-schedule recommencement of production at the Galoc oil field is a significant milestone for the field and the people involved in making this happen. Our congratulations to all Otto and Galoc Production Company staff for their countless hours in supporting this achievement, our thanks to all the contractors and their staff and also to the Philippines Department of Energy for their steadfast support”.

FPSO Rubicon Intrepid in production

Galoc Phase II Update

 Front End Engineering and Design (“FEED”)

The joint venture commenced the engineering design work in late 2011 and remains on schedule for the Final Investment Decision (“FID”) around mid-2012.  The scope of FEED work, to be undertaken prior to FID, includes detailed subsurface modeling of the reservoir, drilling and completion design, subsea engineering and tie-back design for new wells as well as joint venture financing considerations.

The FEED work is being undertaken in Perth primarily, with support from Otto Energy’s Manila-based Galoc Production Company personnel.

Acquisition of 3D Seismic

In addition to engineering and design works, acquisition of 184 km 2 of new 3D seismic data was completed in late 2011, covering the Galoc field and adjacent Galoc North exploration prospect.

The new 3D seismic will support the placement of Phase II wells in the reservoir and de-risk this major capital expenditure. In addition, it will also allow full evaluation of the Galoc North exploration prospect, which may realize further  development opportunities for the Galoc field.

Targeting Project Sanction mid-2012

The final project approval, Final Investment Decision (“FID”), for the Galoc Phase II development is targeted for around mid-2012. The Galoc Joint Venture will consider pre- investment in required infrastructure, including wellheads,  flowlines and umbilical lines during the FEED stage.

[mappress]
Source: Otto Energy, April 2, 2012