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Manila Bulletin devider Business devider The Stock Market devider Philodrill seeks new Palawan oil contract to revive idled field

Philodrill seeks new Palawan oil contract to revive idled field

Published Dec 18, 2025 02:29 pm
The Philodrill Corp. is seeking a new service contract to revitalize the West Linapacan oil field in Palawan, aiming to expand its exploration area nearly fivefold and deploy modern technology to tap remaining reserves.
The Pasig-based explorer applied to the Department of Energy for a Development and Production Petroleum Service Contract covering 82,000 hectares, up from its previous 17,724-hectare footprint, according to a Philippine Stock Exchange filing on Thursday.
The move follows the expiration of Service Contract 14 on Dec. 17, which had reached the end of its 15-year extension granted in 2010.
Philodrill is targeting the West Linapacan A block, which first saw production in 1992 but was shut-in four years later. While the field hit peak output of 18,700 barrels of oil per day, operations were suspended in 1996 as rising water production and sagging global crude prices rendered the project uneconomic.
Total production from the site stood at 8.5 million stock tank barrels.
The company also plans to initiate production at West Linapacan B, an undeveloped area it believes holds hydrocarbon accumulations that may extend beyond current structural boundaries.
Both sites tap into fractured Linapacan limestone, a reservoir equivalent to the Nido limestone that has historically anchored Philippine offshore production.
The application, filed on Nov. 17, comes as Philodrill aggressively expands its portfolio. In October, the company was awarded two petroleum contracts via separate consortia for exploration in the Southern Sulu Sea and the Northwest Palawan basin.
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