DOE: $893 million Malampaya drilling completed this year

MANILA, Philippines — The $893-million drilling project to extend the life of the Malampaya gas field in offshore Palawan, is moving full steam ahead and on track for completion this year, the Department of Energy (DOE) said.

“Within the year, we will know if there is gas or any resource there,” Energy Secretary Sharon Garin said in an interview, highlighting the DOE’s optimism about this development.

“It’s a gamble for the country and for the company, but we’re very hopeful (because) geologic studies show that there is potential in those areas,” she said.

Garin visited the offshore Palawan drill site in June, in time for the arrival of the Noble Viking drill ship, which signaled the start of drilling operations under the Malampaya Phase 4 (MP4) project.

The project involves drilling two new deep water wells, Camago-3 and Malampaya East-1, along with Bagong Pag-asa-1, a new exploration field.

“All drilling developments are expected for completion by November this year,” DOE-Energy Resources Development Bureau assistant director Demujin Antiporda said.

Antiporda added that the drilling of Camago-3 is expected to be finished later this month or early August.

MP4, one of the country’s largest upstream energy investments in over a decade, aims to prolong the production life of the Malampaya deep water gas-to-power project and deliver a new gas supply by 2026.

The Malampaya gas field is the country’s first and only indigenous gas resource, governed by Service Contract 38. It supplies about 20 percent of Luzon’s electricity needs.

Razon-led Prime Energy Resources Development and its partners, UC38 LLC, PNOC Exploration Corp. and Prime Oil and Gas Inc., operate the contract, which has been extended until February 2039.

“Prime Energy’s vision and purpose have been very clear to us from the start: we aim to be a world-class Filipino energy company providing long-term energy security to Filipinos,” Prime Energy president and CEO Donnabel Cruz said at a recent event in Singapore.