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A lawmaker revealed that an Australian-Filipino consortium is set to drill a new deep water exploratory well in the West Philippine Sea on August 1. Despite of an undeniably strained regional question between the Philippines and China.
The drilling area is not situated in the contested territory. As explained by House deputy minority leader Rep. Arnel Ty.
“Luckily, Service Contract (SC) 55 is not situated in the disputed region,” said Ty, a member of the House committee on energy.
Upon the arrival on July 31 of the super deep-water drill ship Maersk Venturer, an initial drilling on August 1 will be conducted immediately by a private consortium handling the SC 55.
“We welcome the consortium’s resolve to push through with the drilling of the well, at a time when many oil and gas explorers around the world have abandoned their search for new hydrocarbon deposits amid a 50 percent plunge in oil prices,” Ty said.
The SC 55 consortium will spend some $24.5 million (about P1 billion) to drill the well.
The consortium is composed of Australia’s Otto Energy Investments Ltd., Red Emperor Resources NL, and Palawan 55 Exploration and Production Corp.
By: Kevin N.