Reuters

SINGAPORE - Australia-based Otto Energy Ltd. will see its first oil field come onstream in April in the Philippines, but it has deferred the start of the Calauit field to end-2009 at the earliest, the head of the company said on Friday.

First oil from the 17,500 barrel-per-day (bpd) Galoc field, which will boost the Philippines' small oil production by around 70 percent, is expected to be on target in the third week of April, Alex Parks, the firm's chief executive, told Reuters in a telephone interview.

But Otto's Calauit field, initially expected to come onstream in December 2007, or this quarter, will not start production until at least 2009 as the company decided last year it needed further information on the reservoir.

"Production will start late 2009 or early 2010. That's because we are doing it in a different way," Park said, referring to how the field will be developed.