Otto Energy Increased their Oil and Gas Investment to 33% stake in the Philippines oilfield

Otto’s more investments after their 1 Million barrels of Oil in Galoc Field, Palawan

With a big success of the Otto Energy Ltd in their oil and gas exploration in the Philippines; the company is now in the focus for more investments. Last March 9, 2009  Otto Energy Limited (ASX:OEL)(PINK:OTTEF) announced that the Galoc Field has produced its first million barrels of oil counting as their investment in the Philippines as yielding a good fruit.

Otto Energy Ltd - an Australian oil and gas firm said on Friday – August 12, 2011 it would increase its stake in the Philippines' Galoc oilfield to a direct 33 percent from an indirect 18.78 percent at a cost of $18.7 million.

Otto already owned 31.38 percent of Galoc Production Co WLL (GPC), the operator of the Galoc field, and said it would buy the other 68.62 percent of GPC from European trader Vitol Group.

GPC has a direct 59.84 percent stake in the Galoc field, which currently produces 6,800 oil barrels per day and is near the Camago-Malampaya natural gas fields in the South China Sea.

Otto said it would sell a 26.84 percent stake in the oilfield to Singapore energy investment firm Risco Energy Pte Ltd, thus reducing its interest to 33 percent.

Other firms with stakes in Galoc include Nido Petroleum and Philodrill Corp .

"Galoc is a proven producing asset that we know well and that complements our high potential Philippines exploration portfolio," Otto acting chief executive Matthew Allen.

The transaction is subject to regulatory approval in the Philippines.

Otto Energy Limited (ASX:OEL) Galoc Oil Field Produces One Million Barrels

Perth, Mar 9, 2009 (ABN Newswire) - Otto Energy Limited (ASX:OEL)(PINK:OTTEF) is pleased to announce that the Galoc Field has produced its first million barrels of oil.

Otto's Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Alex Parks said today "Whilst the first one million barrels of crude produced from the Galoc Field is a significant milestone to be recognised, we are still only at the beginning of the field life. The technical data being gathered during this initial production period is providing insights into the reservoir that will determine the management and further development of the field in the future". Mr Parks went on to say "I must thank the Philippines Department of Energy, the Galoc Production Company, our other Joint Venture partners and the operator of the leased FPSO, Rubicon Offshore International, for their co-operation and contributions in realising this milestone, and look forward to many more."

Otto holds a 31.38% shareholding in Galoc Production Company (GPC) which has a 58.29% working interest in the Galoc licence, and is the field Operator. Galoc is located in Service Contract (SC) 14C off the west coast of Palawan in the Philippines.

Otto Energy Starts 3D Seismic Data Acquisition in SC 69 in Visayan Basin

Otto Energy Limited advises that it has commenced a 3D seismic data acquisition program last June 8, 2011 in Service Contract 69 (SC 69) in the Visayan Basin of the Republic of Philippines.

The seismic vessel BGP Explorer, operated by Exploiter Pte Ltd (a subsidiary of BGP ), has been contracted to record the seismic data. Otto plans to acquire approximately 210 km2 of 3D seismic data in SC69 .

SC69 covers an area of 5,280 km2 in the central Visayan Basin where the data acquired from the successful 2D seismic campaign last year confirmed the presence of two sizeable reef structures, Lampos and Lampos South that sit immediately adjacent to the Calamangan Trough which is modelled to generate both oil and gas. Current “success case” estimates of oil initially in place in the combined structures range between 22 mmbbls and 713 mmbbls with a mean in place volume of 290 mmbbls.

This survey fulfils the service contract commitments in the current sub-phase.

Otto’s Managing Director Paul Moore said “the ongoing exploration program in the Visayan region of the Philippines is a core part of Otto’s exploration program with the 3D seismic currently being acquired ahead of the drilling obligation, in the next sub-phase”.

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USA - Philippines military will meet in Hawaii to tackle the 'mutual security concerns' involving Spratlys

Series of important meetings between the United States and the Philippines are set in various schedules this month. Invigorating the 60 year old Mutual Defense Treaty between the Philippines and the United States of America which about to celebrate this August 30, 2011 which USA powerful warships are on the way to the Philippines to be part of the 60^th year MDT celebration.

Meanwhile, top Philippines military officials will meet with US Pacific Command chief Adm. Roberto Willard in Hawaii on Tuesday August 17, 2011 (Manila time) to discuss “mutual security concerns," but there is no assurance that the dispute over the Spratlys Islands would be tackled.

Col. Arnulfo Marcelo Burgos, public affairs office chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), said the meeting “is an affirmation of the long-standing defense cooperation between the Philippines and the United States."

“It demonstrates that the partnership between the two countries remains robust, dynamic, and beneficial to both parties, and underscores the unrelenting commitment of both countries toward a more secure Asia-Pacific region," said Burgos in a statement Sunday.

The meeting will be held as part of the annual RP-US Mutual Defense Board and RP-US Security Exchange Board, which is co-chaired by Willard and AFP chief Gen. Eduardo Oban.

The Security Engagement Board is responsible for implementing the Mutual Defense Treaty, which the two counties signed in August 30, 1951. It mandates both sides to aid each in case of foreign aggression.

Burgos said the party of Oban, which includes Navy chief Vice Adm. Alexander Pama, Army chief Lt. Gen. Arturo Ortiz and national police chief Director General Raul Bacalzo is due to leave Sunday night for the two-day meeting.

The delegation also includes Air Force inspector general Maj. Gen. Carlix Donila, Marines commandant Maj. Gen. Rustico Guerrero, Army Special Operations Command chief Major General Roberto Morales, Coast Guard commandant Admiral Ramon Liwag, and representatives from the defense and foreign affairs departments.

During the Board meeting, the strategic dialogue will focus on mutual security concerns to demonstrate increased bilateral commitment to the 60-year-old mutual defense alliance of the Philippines and the United States of America..

The two sides will also discuss traditional as well as nontraditional security issues like mutual defense, maritime security, counter-terrorism, cyber security and disaster response, among others.

If the West Philippines Sea (WPS) - South China Sea conflict will be discussed during the meeting, although Oban said in an earlier interview that the issue would be “definitely" tackled in the meeting “because of the recent statements and developments we’ve been hearing and seeing."

The military establishment has reported a number of intrusions by China in Philippine-claimed areas in the Spratly Island over the past months, prompting the Department of Foreign Affairs to file diplomatic protests against Beijing.

The Spratly Islands is a chain of islands and islets that are believed to be rich in oil and mineral depositions. The area is being claimed in part or in whole by the Philippines, China, Taiwan, Brunei, Malaysia and Vietnam.

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New Zealand With Australia and USA will support the Philippines' position on Spratlys

The United States of America announced that the Washington Power is always on the back to support the Philippines; the same as Japan and Australia and other allies of the Philippines. Recently, the New Zealand expressed their support to the Philippines in the Spratlys disputes.

New Zealand supports the position of the Philippines and other allies that claimants to the Spratly chain of islands must heed the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), the Department of National Defense said Friday.

The New Zealand government also agreed during a recent meeting with Filipino defense officials that the Spratly claimants—the Philippines, China, Vietnam, Brunei, Malaysia and Taiwan—should abide by the code of conduct they had signed in 2002 about settling territorial dispute peacefully, the defense department said in a statement.

The UNCLOS sets a country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ)—an area where it has a right to explore for and exploit natural resources while allowing freedom of navigation and overflight to others— at 200 nautical miles from its coastline.

The Philippines has tussled with China over certain isles and reefs in the vicinity of the Spratly chain that fall within what Manila considers its EEZ as well as Beijing’s  “nine-dash-line” claims over the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea).

“Both sides noted that it is necessary for claimant countries to abide by the 1982 UNCLOS and adhere to the 2002 ASEAN-China Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea, if peace and stability in the area were to be maintained,” the defense department statement said.

On August 4 the New Zealand and the Philippines engaged in an inaugural defense and security dialogue hosted by the DND in Manila.

The dialogue was meant to “bolster defense ties and with exchanging views on each other’s defense policies as one key step,” as well as to complement existing military cooperation between the two allies through the Mutual Assistance Program Talks.

The Philippine and New Zealand delegations were headed by Defense Undersecretary Pio Lorenzo Batino and New Zealand’s Secretary of Defense John McKinnon.

Also discussed were the situation in the South Pacific, New Zealand’s commitment in Timor Leste, Philippines-United States defense engagements, the Five Power Defense Arrangements, Philippine participation in UN peacekeeping operations, New Zealand Defense Force’s peacekeeping and conflict prevention efforts.

“Prospective areas of deeper defense cooperation were also examined particularly on peacekeeping operations as well as education and training,” officials said.

The Philippines and New Zealand are co-chairs of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Defense Ministers Meeting-Plus Expert Working Group on Peacekeeping.

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