TRANS-Asia Petroleum Corp. (Tapet) and Frontier Gasfields Pty. Ltd. (FGL) will proceed to conduct exploration activities in the offshore section of the Visayan Basin, Tapet said on Friday.
Tapet told the stock exchange that the Department of Energy (DOE) has been informed of “their election to enter exploration Sub-Phase 4 covering the period May 7, 2015 to May 7, 2016.”
“The work commitment under Sub-Phase 4 is either one exploratory well or a 50-square-kilometer [3-dimensional] seismic survey with minimum expenditures of $3 million or $2 million, respectively,” Tapet added.
Tapet and FGL each hold a 50-percent interest in Service Contract (SC) 69. Both also notified the DOE of the change in operatorship of SC 69 from FGL to Tapet effective on May 7.
The DOE extended the firms’ working permit for SC 69.
SC 69 covers a 7,040-square-kilometers area, in offshore Central Visayas, surrounded by the Cebu, Bohol and Leyte islands. The latest estimates of oil in SC 69 range between 52 million barrels and 1.169 billion barrels.
Tapet is a wholly owned subsidiary of Trans-Asia Oil & Energy Development Corp. (TA Oil) with a primary purpose to engage in the domestic and international business of oil and gas exploration, development and production. Tapet also holds a 6.82-percent interest in SC 55 in West Palawan; 6.67 percent in SC 51 in northwest Leyte; and 2.33 percent in SC 6 Block A and 4.06 percent in SC Block B in offshore northwest Palawan.
Lenie Lectura with PNA