Force majeure approved for Forum's SC72
The Philippines government has approved UK-listed Forum Energy request to declare force majeure on its Service Contract 72 in waters disputed by China.
The Reed (or Recto) Bank licence off the island of Palawan is home to the Sampaguita gas field.
The project lies in waters that are the subject of an United Nations arbitration process between the Philippines and China, with the former viewing it as its territory of the West Philippine Sea and the latter viewing it as being part of its South China Sea territory.
Forum Energy said that the ruling means the second exploration sub-phase of SC72, which has already been extended to August 2016, is now on hold indefinitely.
Petroleum consultants Weatherford International estimates that SC72 holds best estimate contingent resources of 3.6 trillion cubic feet of gas initially in place and 65 million barrels of oil and liquids.
The territorial dispute has dogged progress by Forum Energy in the past several years in its efforts to appraise and develop the 1976 discovery.
Forum Energy is two-thirds owned by Philex Petroleum, a subsidiary of Philippine resource player Philex Mining Corporation.
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