exon to start oil production in the galoc area

MANILAExxon Mobil will invest at least $100 million in offshore oil exploration near the Philippines, the company said Friday.
The government earlier this week announced that a consortium of mostly Philippine companies will immediately begin commercial oil production in the Galoc offshore oil field in the South China Sea off the northern tip of Palawan province, southwest of Manila.
Stephen Greenlee, vice president for Exxon Mobil Exploration Co., spoke with Philippines President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo about plans to search for oil in the Sulu Sea, in the southwestern Philippines.
Greenlee told reporters afterward that Exxon Mobil was very encouraged by the prospects of the exploration.
Exxon is evaluating seismic data from the area and could start drilling next year, he said.
A drilling program could cost over $100 million for us to explore the potential, and then subsequent to that drilling and if were successful and we find what we hope to find, then the development of the site would be several billion dollars-, he said.
The Philippine government has approved the acquisition by a Philippine subsidiary of Exxon Mobil Corp. of 50 percent of the operating interest in a service contract area totaling 3,088 square miles originally held by Malaysias Mitra Energy. Mitra will retain the remaining half.

Finally the Exxon Mobil exploration team is now at Sulu Sea