Drilling to start for Mabini project in the Philippines in early May 2016
Discharge of the first well, Mai6D on Maibarara project site, Philippines (source: Maibarara Geothermal Inc.)
Alexander Richter
13 Apr 2016
The Consortium of Basic Energy and Trans-Asia Oil expects initial drilling for its Mabini geothermal project to start in early May this year.
Reported locally, Basic Energy and its consortium with Trans-Asia Oil will start the drilling program for the Mabini geothermal project in the coming days after approval from the Department of Energy of the Philippines. It expects the drilling campaign to take around 90 days.
The approval comes less than two weeks after the consortium partners awarded a P48-million ($1 million) drilling contract for the first exploratory well to Diamond Drilling Corporation of the Philippines (DCCP). The well will be drilled to a depth of at least 1,500 meters to test a potential geothermal resource.
Drilling of the resource, which Trans-Asia Oil said was previously identified by geophysical and geological studies, is expected to start in the first week of May 2016.
The Mabini geothermal service contract no 8 is located on the Calumpang Peninsula, and covers around 3,841 hectares. The geothermal field of Mabini is estimated with a geothermal power generation capacity of up to 60 MW, based on the pre-feasibility study.
Basic Energy, the operator of the service contract, has a 75% stake in the project. Trans-Asia Oil’s equity participation is 25%.
Basic Energy previously said the decision to award the contract to DDCP “followed the consortium’s rigorous assessment of the technical capabilities of shortlisted contractors vis-a-vis its approved budget.”
Source: Business World Online
