On 30 August, 2014, PPIG’s subsidiary CIMP hosted spud-in ceremony at its SC49 well site in Alegria, Cebu, the Philippines. Nearly two hundred guests from different sectors and areas came together to witness and congratulate the grand event.
PPIG Chairman Kuai Wei and CEO Eric Lai arrived at the ceremony with a group of more than 10 representatives from Macau and Hong Kong along with PPIG’s partners of the SC49 project. On the Philippine government side, representatives included: Assistant Director Ismael U. Ocampo of Energy Resource Development Bureau, DOE (Department of Energy), DOE VFO (Visayas Field Office) Director Antonio E. Labios, Director William P. Cunado, representative of Environmental Management Bureau, Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Mayor Verna Magallon of the Alegria Municipal, Vice Mayor Marcial Rodriguez Jr. of the Alegria Municipal, Congressman Willy Caminero, Cebu Provincial Board Members Peter John D. Calderon and Christopher Baricuatro, Alegria Municipal Councils, Senior Management Committee of the Alegria Municipal and Barangay Captains.
At 14:00 on this perfect sunny day, the MC Audrey Mu, also an anchorwoman from MASTV of Macau, announced commencement of the spud-in ceremony and extended a warm welcome to all the guests. Following local practices, the ceremony began with blessings led by a local priest, Philippine national anthem, and addresses by distinguished guests. In his welcoming speech, PPIG Vice President and CIMP Country Manager Vladimir Gerchikov expressed appreciations to all the guests for participating in the event and also emphasized his confidence in the success of this project. He concluded his speech by ensuring that next time when all the guests come together again, it will surely be on the celebration for achieving commercial flow rate at SC49.
More distinguished guests including Mayor Verna Magallon of the Alegria Municipal, Congressman Willy Caminero, DOE VFO Director Antonio E. Labios and Montpeller Barangay Captain Juanito Libradilla also expressed their high hopes for the SC49 project. They all wished that while ensuring security of local residents and the environment, this project can also achieve expected results, assisting the Philippines to make a big step towards energy self-sufficiency and creating a win-win situation for all.
After the addresses, several distinguished guests were invited to cut the ribbon, signifying a continual, never-ending development of the project. As the ribbon was cut, the rig was started up and firecrackers set off, filling the spacious well site with the sound of joy and happiness. The rig whistling and the guests wishing all the best for the SC49 project, the spud-in ceremony was thus concluded with great success.
After the ceremony, guests gathered in front of the stage to take pictures alongside the rig. At the same time, Mayor Verna Magallon accompanied PPIG employees to give out desserts to the onlooking crowd, in order to establish good relationships with the local community and lay the foundation for long-term, successful development for the SC49 project.
In the evening on the same day, the guests along with Alegria Municipal personnel and local residents were invited to a spud-in celebration dinner at the Heritage Park across from the Municipal building. In addition to local delicacies, PPIG also prepared local festival must-have treats to share with all the distinguished guests.
ERDB Assistant Director Ismael U. Ocampo pointed out in his speech that SC49 has substantial reserves, and he believes that the block is very likely to have commercial oil and gas production through CIMP's utmost efforts by its expertise and it is expected to increase oil and gas supply for the country.
Throughout the evening, with live band playing and entertaining programs unfolding, joy and excitement came to the highest point when PPIG Chairman Kuai Wei, Alegria Mayor and Vice Mayor were invited to draw from the raffles lucky guests winning grand prizes.
After dinner, PPIG management and DOE officials departed. Local residents gathered together and turned the venue into a fiesta of their own, singing and enjoying the food until late into the night.
According to NSAI, the 2C resource of the SC49 block is estimated up to 13.5 million barrels and the OOIP is hundreds of millions of barrels. With high potentials of this block, SC49 will commence production upon successful drilling results and its estimated resource level can be further upgraded to 2P.
Dated: 1 September 2014
