Nido awards contracts on Tindalo oil field

Rick Wilkinson
OGJ Correspondent

MELBOURNE, Mar. 3 -- Nido Petroleum Ltd., Perth, awarded two major equipment contracts for development of Tindalo oil field in the Palawan basin off the Philippines.

Norwegian company Knutsen Shuttletanker Pool AS was awarded the contract for supply of the M/T Tove Knutsen floating storage and offtake vessel (FSO), while Weatherford Asia Pacific Pte Ltd. was awarded the contract for production processing equipment.

The FSO, a double-hulled tanker with capacity to store more than 600,000 bbl of oil, will be initially supplied for 6 months with an option to extend this period for up to 3 years.

The vessel will be positioned near the Tindalo production facility and use its dynamic positioning system to remain on location.

Oil from Tindalo will be sent via floating flowline to the FSO from the production processing unit on the Aquamarine Driller jack up rig.

The Tove Knutsen will be mobilized to the field in April after undergoing some minor refitting in Singapore.

The Weatherford production processing equipment for Tindalo is a modular system being assembled in Batam, Indonesia. It will be used during the initial well-testing program and then remain in place for full field operations.

It is to be installed on the deck of Aquamarine Driller, also expected on station in April, and will process up to 20,000 b/d of oil, including the removal of gas and water from the production flow.

First oil from Tindalo is scheduled for the second quarter with initial plateau rates of 7,000-15,000 b/d. Recoverable oil reserves at the field are estimated to be 1.5 million bbl.

Nido has a 50% interest in the SC54A license while Kairiki Energy Ltd. has 35% and Trafigura Ventures III BV 15%.