Energy Undersecretary Donato D. Marcos delivers a message during the Closing Ceremony for the cessation of production operations of the Nido and Matinloc oils fields in Northwest Palawan. The event was held at the Huni-Lio Estate in El Nido on 7 November 2019.
EL NIDO, PALAWAN – The Department of Energy (DOE) participated on 7 November in the closing ceremony for the cessation of production operations of the Nido and Matinloc oil fields in Northwest Palawan. Held at the Huni-Lio Estate, the event was hosted by Service Contract (SC) 14 A and B’s consortia, composed of The Philodrill Corporation; Alcorn Petroleum; Oriental Petroleum; Nido Production; Phinma Energy; and Forum Energy.
“The closing of Nido and Matinloc’s production comes after over 40 fruitful years. Throughout their operations, these two oil fields have contributed significantly to our country’s energy needs. As this chapter comes to a close, we look forward to exciting times ahead as we continue our search for similar oil and gas projects that would help us attain energy security and fuel our continued development,” Energy Secretary Alfonso G. Cusi said.
In July 1977, Cities Service, Inc. and its Filipino partners discovered commercial oil in what became the Nido A Field, in the Nido limestone reservoir of Service Contract 14’s offshore area. The discovery of the Nido B Field followed in January 1978. Production commenced on February 1979, which marked the first commercial oil production in the Philippines. During its early stages, peak field production reached 40,000 barrels of oil per day.
On the other hand, the Matinloc oil field was discovered in January 1979, followed by the Pandan and Libro discoveries in 1980, which led to the establishment of the Matinloc Oilfield Production Complex (MOPC), the central hub of production operations. In 1988, the North Matinloc oil field was discovered and connected to the MOPC.
In over four decades of production operations, Nido and MOPC were able to produce 18.9 million barrels of oil (MMBO) and 12.5 MMBO, respectively.
Undersecretary Donato D. Marcos and DOE-Energy Resource Development Bureau Director Cesar G. Dela Fuente III received memorabilia from the SC 14 consortia, on behalf of the DOE.
Also present were members of the Western Command of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, Task Force Malampaya, and different service contractors of the Philippine upstream petroleum sector.
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