Abstract

In mid-1976, the first significant amounts of crude oil were tested in Nido No. 1, offshore North-west Palawan in the Philippines. One year later, a commercial discovery was drilled at South Nido No. 1. Less than eighteen months following this commercial discovery, crude oil was produced from the Nido Reef Complex Oil Field.

The Nido Reef Complex Oil Field, consisting of two separate reef buildups located only four kilometers apart, is a small oil field by industry standards; this oil field, nevertheless, represents a significant accomplishment for both the Philippines and for oil company explorationists working in this region. Philippines oil production, firstly, signaled the discovery and initial development of a new oil producing province, where none was previously thought to exist. Secondly, this discovery resulted from the application of imaginative exploration reasoning, and creative acquisition or leasing actions. Add to this the quickness of development, and the Nido Reef Complex Oil Field represents an interesting case history of the discovery and development of a small oil field in Southeast Asia.