President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, Jr. has announced that a significant natural gas discovery has been made, signaling a major find in almost a decade that aims to boost thecountry’s gas supply in the coming years.
Dubbed as the Malampaya East-1 or MAE-1, the discovered reservoir is located about five kilometers east of the existing Malampaya Field. It is estimated to contain around 98 billion cubic feet of gas in place.
This is equivalent to almost 14 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity, or enough to supply power to more than 5.7 million households, 9,500 buildings, or about 200,000 schools in one year, the president said in a Facebook video message.
“This helps Malampaya’s contribution and strengthens our domestic gas supply for manyyears to come,” Marcos Jr. added.
Initial testing, he added, show that the well flowed at 60 million cubic feet per day,indicating that it has the “potential to produce even more,” and that it is a “high productivity resource comparable to the original Malampaya wells.”
Aside from natural gas, the discovery also includes condensate, a high-value liquid fuel that can help support the government’s efforts for the stabilization of the country’s power Supply.
“Ipinagmamalaki din natin na Pilipino ang nanguna sa drilling na ito. Higit sa lahat, natapos nila ito na walang aksidente o environmental incident,” the president said.
The newly discovered MAE-1 is the first milestone under the Malampaya Phase 4 drilling campaign, which also includes the Camago-2 and the Bagong Pagasa wells.
“The next step are the completion and testing of the Camago-3, followed by the drilling of the Pagasa exploration wells to pursue more potential gas resources.
This achievement was made possible through the work of the SC3A consortium, led by Prime Energy, in partnership with UC38, PNOC Exploration Corporation and Prime Oil and Gas, Inc.
Related article: Tolentino: Pagsusumite ng ‘Talampas ng Pilipinas’ chart sa UN agency, bibigyang-daan ang eksplorasyon ng langis, natural gas, at yamang mineral
