Ian Fischer, ExxonMobil managing director, said “data analysis and additional studies are being conducted to evaluate the potential of the find.”
The company also plans to explore a second well in the South Sulu Sea within the month, Fischer said.
Under Service Contract-56, the well is about 65 kilometers or 40 miles from Mapun Island, a municipality under the province of Tawi-Tawi.
“SC-56 is part of the Philippine government’s efforts to encourage investments in the energy sector. I would like to thank our staff and contractors for their hard work and Energy Secretary Angelo Reyes and the Philippine government for their support to our drilling operations,” Fischer said.
ExxonMobil Exploration and Production Philippines B.V. is the operator of SC-56 with a 50% interest, while Mitra Energy (Philippines) Ltd. and BHP Billiton Petroleum (International Exploration) Pty. Ltd. each has a 25% stake.
For his part, Reyes expressed optimism and stated that he “recognized the hard work rendered by the contractors in their drilling operations.”
“The government would like to thank them for their strong support to our energy-investment program,” the energy chief said.
Reyes emphasized that the utilization of indigenous-energy resources is paramount in the country’s energy self-sufficiency quest and the contractors’ involvement in the energy sector is a good indicator of the country’s investment climate.
“During this exploration operation, all risk is borne by the contractors ExxonMobil, Mitra and BHP Billiton, at no cost to the Philippine government. “We look forward to further working with ExxonMobil under SC 56,” Reyes said.
The company is seeeking at invest around $100 million to drill a well in the South Sulu Sea.
“And right now, it’s where we are focusing at. We just have a one-well plan and potentially a second well,” he added.
He added that drilling a second well would depend on the results of the first well. “But right now we need to understand what’s in the first well before we make any decisions for future investments,” Fischer said.
