With global oil giant ExxonMobil giving part of its attention to the Philippine upstream oil sector, it cannot help but bet on potential ‘high success rate’ at its offshore oil and gas drilling along Sulu basin.

“We’re optimistic and that the Department of Energy has given us a very good service contract,” Ian Fischer, managing director of ExxonMobil Exploration and Production Philippines B.V. said when asked about prospects in Service Contract 56.

While there are no concrete data yet to validate the extent of reserves that can be extracted from the block, the US oil giant is raising hopes on the possibility of replicating the success rates of its other drilling ventures in Asia – such as the recent discovery in Indonesia which produces almost 1.0 million barrels of oil per day.

“It would be good if we would be able to replicate that success (the Cepu oil field in Indonesia.) But as I said, it’s a very challenging prospect,” Fischer noted, stressing that the Cepu discovery was quite different as it involved onshore drilling.

The company holds operatorship equity in the Sulu oil block – enlisting Australian firm BHP Billiton Pty. and Malaysian firm Mitra Energy as the other interest holders in the consortium.

The SC 56 group has programmed $100-million investment for the first well drilling anticipated to start late this September or early next month.

“It is a very expensive operation – it would be the deepest water ever drilled in the Philippines, 1800-meter deep of water and the longest well drilled in the Philippines, about 5,000 meters,” he said.

The specific timeline for the drilling, it was noted, will depend on the availability of the rig and on when it will be deployed in the drilling site in Sulu.

Security risk concerns in the area, he said, are being allayed as “we work closely with the DOE and the Department of National Defense and we have our regular evaluations and the government has been very, very helpful. We work on all precautions that we will have to take.”

ExxonMobil said its investment plan in the Philippines is premised on being able to help develop the country’s oil and gas resources, amid the level of risks confronting the industry.

“That’s what the Philippine needs, it needs to drill wells. If it wants to find oil, it has to drill wells,” Fischer stressed. On that sphere, he noted that “Exxon Mobil has very strong technical and financial resources to do this, and we hope that we find oil in it – if we find it, it’s good for the industry
and good for the Philippines.”

After successful investment forays in otherparts of Asia, Fischer said the company focuses part of its attention in the Philippines given attractive prospects in its upstream oil sector.