The fifth permit year ends in March, and with Nido pulling out of the nearby Baronang and Cakalang PSCs, an exit from Indonesia would appear to be on the cards.

Nido, which under CEO Dr Mike Fischer is looking to expand further in Asia, has $US17.5 million ($A25 million) in cash to chase plays with. However, the company has posted a string of losses in recent quarters due to the crumbling oil price.

The company is still enjoying good operational performance from the Galoc field, which is producing a net 3189 barrels of oil per day. The more mature Nido and Matinloc oil fields continued to produce oil on a cyclical basis, with a net 9573bbl recovered last quarter.

The company is still assessing a third phase for Galoc and an appraisal well.

Costs for the quarter were $9.6 million compared with income of $8.8 million.

The costs included $1.2 million in administration and $500,000 relating to the payment of interest and other financing costs associated with the revolving debt loan facility entered into with Bangchak Petroleum Public Company, its majority shareholder.

Nido managing director Dr Mike Fischer said the company was looking at ways to get its costs under control "and reducing expenditure where possible", as clearly the company cannot continue to post losses quarter on quarter.

"Despite the difficult external environment we remain optimistic that Nido will be able to identify and capitalise on the good growth opportunities that the downturn will create," he said.

Exploration across most of the company's large holdings in the Philippines outside the Galoc area is mostly on hold.

Nido's debt stood at $88.2 million at December 31.