The Galoc oil field consortium is seeking approval from the Department of Energy for a new service contract to recover remaining reserves in northwest Palawan following the expiration of its previous agreement on Dec. 17.
The move follows the end of Service Contract 14C1, which covered approximately 16,000 hectares. Originally awarded in 1975, the contract received a final 15-year extension in 2010 that concluded late this year.
Operator NPG Pty. Ltd. filed an application for a Development and Production Petroleum Service Contract (DPPSC) with the DOE on March 26. However, joint venture partner Oriental Petroleum and Minerals Corp. (OPMC) disclosed to the Philippine Stock Exchange that it opted not to participate in the new application.
OPMC, which held a 7.78505 percent interest in the previous contract, said it has not yet been officially advised by partners or the DOE on the disposition of its decision to withdraw.
The Galoc field continues to produce about 1,000 barrels of oil per day from its remaining two wells, Galoc-5 and Galoc-6. Since 2008, the field has yielded an estimated 24.8 million barrels of cumulative production.
While Galoc-5 and Galoc-6 have supported production since 2013, other wells in the field have faced challenges. The Galoc-3 well stopped producing in 2022 due to declining rates and Galoc-4 has remained shut-in since 2019 because of fluid-lifting constraints.
OPMC confirmed that the decommissioning fund for SC 14C1 is now fully funded following the DOE’s Aug. 27 approval of a revised abandonment plan. This funding relieves the company of remaining decommissioning obligations.
Despite its withdrawal from the new contract application, OPMC remains entitled to its share of the final oil lifting under the expired agreement. The company expects remittance for this final share in early 2026.
