SC 6 Northwest Palawan

SC 6 Northwest Palawan

Forum Energy holds interests in the two contract areas under SC 6, namely SC 6A Octon Block and SC 6B Bonita Block.


SC 6A Octon

PXP Energy Corporation: 5.56%

Forum Energy Philippines Corporation: 5.56%

The former SC 6A block covers an area of 1,080 square kilometers and contains the Octon field that was discovered in January 1991 and appraised in April 1992. The discovery well Octon-1 was tested and yielded 1,816 barrels of oil and 1.8 million cubic feet of gas.

In 2018, Philodrill completed a 3D seismic interpretation work on the northern sector of the block that focused on the Malajon, Salvacion, and Saddle Rock prospects. This was followed by a seismic attribute analysis of the Galoc Clastic Unit (GCU) interval which was undertaken in 2019. The Malajon and Saddle Rock closures were previously tested by wells that encountered good oil shows in the GCU. However, no drill stem tests were conducted in this interval due to operational constraints.

In 2020, a pilot study on the Malajon area was completed using 3D seismic and well data. The study showed the Malajon structure has good hydrocarbon potential, thus requires further analysis. A detailed Quantitative Interpretation Study was approved by the Joint Venture aimed at generating pay probability maps and identifying prospective zones that could be targets for future wells. It also included detailed attribute analysis as several channelized sands within the GCU have been identified during the pilot study. The study was completed in December 2020.

The term of SC 6A is set to expire on February 28, 2024, which gives the JV limited time to drill an exploratory well and to develop a field in case of a discovery. In view of this, the Consortium decided to surrender the contract effective March 31, 2021 and, upon its approval by the DOE, apply for a new contract under the Philippine Conventional Energy Contracting Program (PCECP) on area nomination. The DOE approved the surrender of the SC on September 5, 2022

On January 26, 2023, the DOE granted an Area Clearance on the proposed SC block that covers an area of 1,671 square kilometers and includes the former SC 6A and additional areas surrendered from SC 74 in 2022.

On March 17, 2023, Philodrill submitted to the DOE the bid documents for the application for the new SC, with PXP and FEPC having a participating interest of 6.8439% each.


SC 6B Bonita

Forum Energy Philippines Corporation: 2.4546%

SC 6B Bonita covers an area of 567 square kilometers and contains the Bonita field, discovered in 1989, and yielded 765 to 2,107 barrels per day of oil during testing. The results of a technical evaluation of the block show that the geological feature East Cadlao would be prospective if developed together with the Cadlao Field production area. In this light, the SC 6B Consortium requested for a re-configuration of SC 6B to include the Cadlao Field production area, a field that came on stream in 1981 and produced around 11 million barrels of oil until 1991. This request was approved by the DOE in March 2018.

In late 2021, Nido Petroleum submitted a farm-in proposal to the Joint Venture to increase its participating interest in the block from 9.09% to 72.727% and take over the operatorship of SC 6B. Under the farm-in, Nido will fund 100% of the drilling, extended well test, and subsequent development of the Cadlao Field in return for the additional 63.637% Participating Interest. A farm-in agreement was later executed in February 2022 with FEPC’s interest being reduced to 2.4546% from 8.182% in exchange for the said carry in Cadlao’s development costs.