SINGAPORE - Production on the Philippines' new Galoc field could resume in mid-February, after a two-month shutdown, as repairs have started, equity holder Otto Energy said on Friday.
 
The 15,000-20,000 barrels per day (bpd) field, which came on stream in October, has been plagued with production problems linked to bad weather, and shut down barely two months after it started producing.

"Repairs are expected to take approximately seven days to complete, subject to weather, and the Operator anticipates production should recommence around mid-February 2009," the company said in a press release.

Oil production at the Philippines' Galoc offshore oilfield was suspended in mid-December for an inspection after bad weather.

Galoc Production Company (GPC), which operates the field,  said the Floating and Production Storage and Offloading facility (FPSO) was disconnected from the mooring and riser system to permit the inspection.

A survey then revealed that one of the components had become partially detached and needed to be reinstated prior to recommencing production operations.

In addition to the repairs to the riser system, a Hold Back Mooring System (HBMS) will also be installed on the stern of the FPSO, to help cope with bad weather which has forced the mooring and riser system down several times, Otto said.

Galoc, off southwestern Philippines, was the first major field to come onstream in the underexplored country since the 1990s.

But repeated delays -- the field was initially due to start in the first quarter of 2008 -- made equity producers miss the oil price rally.

GPC, in which European trader Vitol has a 68.6 percent stake and Australian oil firm Otto Energy a 31.4 percent interest, is the operator of the field, with a 58.29 percent share.
  
The remaining 41.71 percent is split between Nido Petroleum with 22.28 percent, and several Philippine partners.