Vitol GPC Investments S. A. of Switzerland is waiting for developments at the Galoc oil field before proceeding with its additional work program at the Octon field in offshore northwest Palawan.

Vitol expectes to recover one million of the estimated three million barrels of oil reserves in Oxton field. Octon also contains 34 billion cubic feet of natural gas reserves, of which three billion are recoverable.

The Philodrill Corp. said in a statement that Vitol, which owns 70 percent of service contract 6-A, had indicated that it would proceed with the next phase of development at the Octon field only if the Galoc consortium would move forward with the second phase of the project.

Vitol has a 40 percent indirect stake in the Galoc field, which is located near the Octon area.

The Galoc field started producing oil in October last year but was temporarily suspended last month due to technical problems and unfavorable weather conditions.

Two wells are producing at the Galoc field but the consortium has not announced plans for additional well drillings.

?Vitol GPC believes in the commercial viability of the Octon field development if tied back to the Galoc field,? Philodrill said.

Philodrill said Vitol had already completed the evaluation of the Octon contract area as part of its three-phase exploration review.

?Vitol GPC is now finalizing the results of their joint Octon-Galoc evaluation project as part of its phase 1 farm-in commitment into SC-6A. Their decision to proceed with the farm-in phase 2 depends whether or not the Galoc consortium will proceed to Phase 2 of the Galoc project,? Philodrill said.

Vitol engaged the services of P.T. Horizon Geoconsulting, a Jakarta-based support company, to generate a database and undertake preliminary evaluation works for the first stage of its work commitment in the contract area.

?The initial results confirmed the presence of a number of prospects and leads that have been identified in earlier works, including the Barselisa Structure, which is by far seen as the primary prospect that they felt warranted further additional studies,? Philodrill said.

The next phase of Octon?s development entails drilling of two new oil wells in 2010.

In 2007, the Energy Department approved the farm-in agreement between Vitol and the consortium of local companies led by Philodrill.

Vitol is the largest independent oil trading company in the world based in Geneva, Switzerland, with a network of 20 offices worldwide. Alena Mae S. Flores