Frontier Oil to drill ₱5 Billion Palawan Calauit Field and Cagayan wells in Q1 2014

The initial public offering (IPO) of Frontier Oil Corp. will transform the company from an explorer into a producer as it aims to drill two offshore wells in the Calauit Field by end of first quarter next year, a company executive said.

 

"What we're trying to do with this IPO is transforming the company from an explorer into a producer," president Kristoffer Fellowes told reporters in an investors' briefing late Monday.

 

"If we're successful, we'll be producing in the first half of 2014 by way of extended well test initiative and that is in Calauit Field," he said.

 

Discovered in 1991 by Petrocorp Exploration Philippines Ltd., Calauit Field is part of service contract (SC) 52 in offshore northwest Palawan and is Frontier Oil's most mature projects.

 

"We're still firming up specific dates [for the drilling] but it will be towards the end of first quarter 2014," Fellowes said.

 

"As soon as we finish drilling, we'll have a revenue stream. It's been in production before so we have assessments that it is bankable, with 5,000 barrels per day for 2.5 years of revenue stream based on independent assessment," he added.

 

According to Gaffney Kline & Associates, Calauit Field is estimated to have a net present value of ₱3.8 billion to ₱5.91 billion.

 

Fellowes said two horizontal wells will be drilled separately.

 

"We will have simultaneous operations... with the first well... It will be drilled for 30 days and will proceed to production... Then the second well will be drilled," he said.

 

On Oct. 25, the Philippine Stock Exchange approved the ₱2.2 billion IPO of Frontier Oil covering 883.626 million primary common shares at P2.50 apiece.

 

The offer period is set for Nov. 25 to Nov. 29, with a listing date on Dec. 9., according to a PSE memorandum.

 

Of the IPO proceeds, ₱276.88 million will be used for SC 50. Frontier Oil will also use ₱1.5 billion to drill in SC 52 in the onshore Cagayan Basin by December.

 

Frontier Oil holds interests and rights to interests in four of the 26 active exploration service contracts

 

Currently in place with the Department of Energy, with SC 50 and 52 as the two most mature or production-ready projects, according to the company. - GMA News

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China Firm chosen as preferred bidder for ₱1.59 billion offer to take ownership of Agus VI Hydro Power plant in Mindanao

 

Chinese firm submits best bid for Agus power plant rehab in Iligan City, Mindanao

 

China's Guangxi Hydroelectric Construction Bureau and local joint venture (JV) partner ITP Construction Inc. submitted the best offer for the contract to rehabilitate and raise the power output of the Agus VI hydroelectric power plant, said Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management (PSALM) Corp.

 

PSALM, a state-owned firm tasked to manage and privatize the remaining power assets of  National Power Corp., said in a statement that Guangxi Hydroelectric submitted the lowest offer of ₱1.59 billion during the Oct. 25 bidding for the upgrading of Units 1 and 2 of the Agus VI hydroelectric power plant.

 

The bid, PSALM said, could translate to potential savings of more than ₱1 billion for the government.

 

The other bid (₱1.68 billion) was from a group composed of HydroChina ZhongNan, Harbin Electric Machinery Co. Ltd. and BSP & Co. Inc.

 

PSALM said both bids were within the approved ₱2.6-billion budget for the contract.

 

A third potential bidder did not qualify, PSALM said.

 

PSALM bids and awards committee chair Manuel Marcos M. Villalon II said the winning bid was still subject to detailed evaluation and post-qualification to determine whether it was compliant with and responsive to the bidding requirements and conditions.

 

Agus 6 is part of the Agus-Pulangi hydroelectric power complex, which generates more than half of the power supplied to Mindanao. The government wants Units 1 and 2 to be uprated to 34.5 MW each (from 25MW) and to be fit for power generation for another 30 years.

 

"Specifically, the project will include the investigation, design, engineering, manufacturing, installation, testing and commissioning of the new hydropower turbines and blades of the two Agus VI power units. It also calls for the replacement of electrical equipment, materials and devices necessary for the safe and reliable operation of the power facilities. Upon the award, the project is expected to be completed within 900 calendar days," PSALM said. – Inquirer 

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