The upper zone at 850m tested at a rate of five million cubic feet per day and the lower zone at 1850m tested 12.6Mcf/d. At the time, gas-fired turbines had not yet been commercialised, so the find could not be commercially developed and the well was plugged and abandoned.

Gas2Grid, a company with a focus on developing stranded resources, said operations on the Malolos feature, which has potential gas resources of 150 billion cubic feet, will start in late-October with a view to establish commerciality through a long-term production test.

The well-site was adjacent to a well graded road and access to locations on the Malolos feature was unproblematic, the company said.

Gas2Grid’s plan is to duplicate the 1960 discovery well to a depth of about 2000m and test both gas zones to establish long-term deliverability of gas.

“Malolos-1 was cased in 1960 to a total depth of 2700 metres, which represents a significant sunk cost,” Gas2Grid said.

“The risk is that the well is no longer in a state to be completed, but the cost/benefit ratio of a re-entry is significant.”

If the old well could be successfully completed in one of the zones, a new well, Nuevo Malalos-1, would be drilled to establish a second producer, the company said.

Gas2Grid owns and operates 100% of SC44 onshore Cebu Island in the Philippines, containing two 1960s gas discoveries – Malolos-1 and Zaragosa-1 – that the company is seeking to commercialise.

“The gas would be converted into electricity and sold locally or in Cebu City, which has 1.5 million inhabitants and is located some 30km north of SC44,” the company said.

Gas2Grid has sealed a head of agreement with local power company Marubeni, which would handle all aspects of power generation.

“Gas2Grid’s objective is to appraise the Malolos feature with a view to establishing a sustainable gas flow,” the company said.

“If the aggregate flow of 12.6Mcf/d could be sustained, it would be sufficient to fire a 40MW power plant. The Malolos feature alone has potential gas resources of 50Bcf.

“It is on trend with three other culminations which have a combined area of closure of 24 square kilometres and estimated gas resources of 240Bcf based on simple assumptions derived from the Malolos-1 discovery. There are another 10 leads in the licence, the most attractive of which have potential gas resources in the order of 150Bcf.”