President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. announced on Monday a breakthrough natural gas discovery near the Malampaya field, describing it as the country’s most significant find in more than ten years and a vital step toward strengthening energy security.
The reservoir, named Malampaya East One (MAE-1), lies about five kilometers east of the existing Malampaya site and is estimated to contain 98 billion cubic feet of gas.
Marcos said this volume could generate 14 billion kilowatt-hours annually, enough to power 5.7 million households, 9,600 buildings, or nearly 200,000 schools.
“This helps Malampaya’s contribution and strengthens our domestic gas supply for many years to come,” he said.
Initial testing showed the well producing 60 million cubic feet per day, a rate comparable to the original Malampaya wells.
The discovery also yielded condensate, a valuable liquid fuel that can further stabilize the country’s power supply.
Marcos emphasized Filipino expertise in the drilling effort:
“Ipinagmamalaki rin natin na Pilipino ang nanguna sa drilling na ito. Natapos nila ito nang walang aksidente o environmental incident.”
MAE-1 is the first success under Malampaya Phase 4, which includes additional wells such as Camago-2, Camago-3, and Bagong Pag-asa.
The project is led by the SC3A consortium, composed of Prime Energy, UC38, PNOC Exploration Corporation, and Prime Oil & Gas Inc.
The Malampaya Deep Water Gas-to-Power Project off Palawan currently supplies up to 20% of Luzon’s electricity. The new discovery is expected to extend the life of the country’s only indigenous gas source and reduce reliance on imported fuel.