Philippines-focused Forum Energy has been given extra time to drill two planned exploration wells on its deepwater Service Contract 72 licence area to appraise a multi-Tcf gas prospect.

Originally UK-based Forum was looking to drill two wells to appraise the Sampaguita gas field with a deadline in August 2015, but the company has now been granted a one-year license extension to August 2016.

Forum was granted an extension by the Philippine Department of Energy to the second sub-phase of work on SC 72 to August 2016, which allows for the drilling of the two wells.

Sampaguita has estimated in-place contingent resources of 2.6 Tcf and another 5.5 Tcf of gas in-place, based on a 2012 resource assessment carried out by Weatherford Petroleum Consultants. Weatherford’s study was used to define locations for the proposed Sampaguita wells.

Forum was prevented from drilling the two wells previously due to the long-running dispute over the licence area with China.

The SC 72 area, awarded to Forum in February 2010, covers 8,800 sq km ((3,398 sq miles) west of Palawan Island in the West Philippine Sea, and is south-west of the Shell-operated deepwater Malampaya gas field.