The newly collected data from the completed seismic surveys of Israeli firm Ratio Petroleum and state-run Philippine National Oil Company-Exploration Corporation (PNOC-EC) will enable a comprehensive assessment of the actual reserves’ potential for oil and gas at their service contracts in the East Palawan and Northwest Palawan basins.

The Department of Energy (DOE) has reported this week the completion of the 3D seismic surveys of the two companies in the petroleum blocks covered by their respective service contracts - and that is a crucial step to determine if there is commercial viability on targeted petroleum resource extraction.

“The seismic data collected will facilitate a better understanding of the geological characteristics of the East Palawan and Northwest Palawan basins, aiding in the assessment of the basins’ oil and gas potential,” the department noted.

While this is still at very early phase in the work program of the petroleum service contractors, Energy Secretary Raphael P.M. Lotilla indicated that “the completion of these surveys marks a significant milestone in the nation’s petroleum exploration efforts.”

Ratio Petroleum Ltd., in particular, carried out seismic survey at its Service Contract 76 in East Palawan; while PNOC-EC had undertaken parallel seismic activity at its service contract (SC) 57 in Northwest Palawan.

Both companies had engaged Shearwater GeoServices on the deployment of  survey vessel SW Thuridur on the acquisition of 3D seismic data at their awarded petroleum blocks.

“These seismic surveys were approved by the DOE as part of their work commitments in their service contracts,” the department has reiterated.

Reviving exploration as well as prospective commercial development of oil and gas in the country is among the strategic investment targets set out by the Marcos administration.

The DOE emphasized that “the commitment of Ratio and PNOC-EC to these seismic surveys aligns with the administration’s efforts to boost petroleum exploration, enhance energy security, and unlock untapped resources in these basins, and drive oil and gas exploration and development in the country.”

The Philippines is comparatively a laggard when it comes to upstream oil and gas investments if compared to peers in the Southeast Asian region – and the main factors hamstringing developments on this sphere have been low prospectivity at petroleum blocks, tricky taxation and royalty sharing issues which has been accentuated by a pending case in the Malampaya gas project as well as the continuing diplomatic strife in the West Philippine Sea.