Possible Petroleum Reserves of Philippine Islands

The Philippine Islands have produced no oil commercially; nevertheless, oilis known to be present at various places in the islands. Although all attemptsto produce oil commercially have failed, no intelligent, persistent explorationhas been carried out. The Richmond Petroleum Corpn. (a subsidiary of theStandard Oil Co. of California) and a syndicate headed by Ralph Arnold are atpresent engaged in exploring Bondoc Peninsula in Tayabas Province, one of thepromising Philippine areas, in a manner that promises to test the petroleumpossibilities adequately and intelligently. How can the petroleum resources of an entirely undeveloped area like thePhilippines be estimated, where not even the areal extent of the variousgeologic formations is known? Obviously no calculated figure for assured futureproduction can be derived. Yet a study of the evidence of the occurrence ofpetroleum, the character of the possible reservoir beds, the probable sourcerocks, the character and size of favorable structures, and the area over whichpetroleum-bearing rocks are known to occur, will throw some light on thequestion. The fact that rocks of the same geologic age and similar compositionhave been explored and are producing in Borneo, Sumatra, and Java to the southand in Formosa and Japan to the north also affect the problem, so that one canobtain some idea of the quantity of petroleum that may reasonably be expectedfrom the Philippines. It is this measure of the possibilities rather than adefinite calculation of petroleum reserves that is presented herewith. This paper will not attempt to describe, nor even to enumerate in detail, the occurrences of petroleum in the Philippines, as such data have already beenpublished. AIME 068–78