
Block A is located north of and contiguous with SC 72 in offshore NW Palawan and some 180 to 375 km from Palawan Island. It covers all of Nares Bank and parts of the greater Recto Bank, with an area of 14,300 sq. km. The water depth across the block broadly ranges from 20 m to 2,500 m. Apart from a few academic studies using mostly potential fields of geophysical data and the legacy Joint Marine Seismic Undertaking (JMSU) 2D dataset, which is unavailable to PXP, there are no recent subsurface data in Block A. The closest relevant subsurface information in Block A comes from SC 72, with Reed Bank A-1 and B-1 wells located in the northern part of SC 72.
On September 14, 2020, the DOE opened the bid submitted by PXP in March 2020 and found the application documents complete and thus qualified to undergo further substantive (legal, technical, and financial) evaluation. The application remains under process with the DOE.
Once a Service Contract is granted, the proposed work program for the first sub-phase will include the acquisition of at least 2,200 line-km of 2D seismic data, as well as marine gravity and magnetic data.
The West Linapacan Block has an area of 176.5 sq. km and contains the West Linapacan "A" and "B" structures. The Consortium headed by Philodrill continues with evaluating the viability of redeveloping the West Linapacan "A" Field, which was discovered in 1990 and produced over 8 MMBO from 1992 before being shut-in in 1996.
In 2018, the JV, headed by Philodrill, completed mapping and interpretation work on the 3D seismic data that was reprocessed in 2014. The study focused on the West Linapacan "B" structure, which was drilled in 1991.
In September 2021, the Consortium commenced a technical study on the West Linapacan "B" Field that focuses on reviewing the available geologic and well data, digitization of well logs, reservoir modeling and fracture analysis, followed by resource estimation. Phase 1 of the study was completed in November 2021, with preliminary results indicating a standalone development for the West Linapacan "B" Field would not be economically viable. Philodrill continued with Phase 2 of the study, which comprises the formulation of an appraisal/conceptual development and scoping economics involving the West Linapacan "A" and "B" Fields. The results indicate a joint development of the fields is feasible provided it meets certain conditions related to recoverable reserves, development costs, production rates, and oil price.
On October 20, 2022, Nido Petroleum Philippines Pty Ltd (Nido), a current member of the SC 14C-2 Consortium, submitted a proposal to drill a well and conduct an Extended Well Test (EWT) on West Linapacan "A" to earn an additional 62.721% of the Filipino partners' current participating interest. Discussions with Nido on the farm-in proposal are ongoing.