Basic Energy Corp. and Trans-Asia Oil and Energy Development Corp. have received approval from the Department of Energy (DoE) for their plan to drill an exploratory well in Mabini, Batangas.
In a disclosure yesterday, Basic Energy said its consortium with Trans-Asia Oil will start the drilling program, which it expects to be completed within 90 days. Trans-Asia Oil also provided the stock exchange with the same information later in the day.
The approval comes less than two weeks after the consortium partners awarded a P48-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.
Mabini geothermal service contract number 8, located in Calumpang Peninsula, covers 3,841 hectares. The area is projected to yield a power capacity of up to 60 MW based on the pre-feasibility study.