Oriental Petroleum and Minerals Corp. is gearing up for the next chapter of the West Linapacan project as its joint venture moves to secure a new petroleum service contract ahead of the current concession’s expiration.
OPMC holds a 30.2880 percent participating interest in Service Contract No. 14C2 – West Linapacan Block, a legacy asset that traces back to the original Service Contract No. 14 awarded in December 1975. The contract is now in its final 15-year extension, approved in 2010, and set to expire on December 17.
With the clock ticking, operator The Philodrill Corp. filed an application with the Department of Energy (DOE) on November 17 for a Development and Production Petroleum Service Contract (DPPSC), a move aimed at extending operations while significantly broadening the project’s scope.
At the core of the proposal is a major expansion of the contract area. The joint venture is seeking to grow the footprint from about 17,724 hectares to roughly 82,000 hectares by adding adjacent open acreage to the east—more than quadrupling the area available for exploration and development.
Equally critical is the push for operational continuity and field revival. Under the proposed DPPSC, the joint venture plans to deploy modern technologies and updated development strategies to breathe new life into the mature West Linapacan A field, while advancing West Linapacan B toward commercial production.
For OPMC, the application is about protecting a long-standing investment while unlocking fresh upside. If approved, the new contract would transition West Linapacan from an aging concession into a reinvigorated development platform—keeping the asset relevant in the country’s upstream energy mix and extending its value well beyond 2025.
