Philippine President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. on Monday announced the discovery of a significant natural gas reservoir off the country’s westernmost province, its first major gas find in more than a decade. 

The discovery, which Marcos announced himself in his official social media accounts, underscores the Philippines’ efforts to bolster long-term energy security and domestic power supply. 

The newly discovered reservoir lies around five kilometres east of the existing Malampaya gas field offshore Palawan, a province about 500km southwest of the country’s capital, and is estimated to contain approximately 98 billion cubic feet of gas in place, according to the president. The new reservoir is now known as the Malampaya East-1 ( MAE-1 ) site.

While extraction of said natural gas has yet to start, Marcos says the discovery will be equivalent to nearly 14 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity annually. 

“This means it can supply power to more than 5.7 million households, 9,500 buildings, or nearly 200,000 schools in one year,” Marcos says in Filipino.

Reinforcing domestic supply

Marcos said MAE-1 will extend Malampaya’s contribution to the national energy mix and reinforce the country’s domestic gas supply for years to come, with initial testing showing the well flowing at 60 million cubic feet per day.

“This indicates that the well has the potential to produce even more, confirming it as a high-productivity resource comparable to the original Malampaya wells,” he says.

The Malampaya gas field is the Philippines’ most important source of indigenous natural gas, and serves as a critical fuel supply for power plants that generate about 20% of electricity for Luzon, the country’s main economic region. Prior to the latest discovery, the gas field was projected to be depleted by 2027.

In operation since the early 2000s, Malampaya has helped reduce reliance on imported coal and oil, supported more stable power prices, and generated substantial government revenues through royalties and taxes. 

As a public-private partnership product, the Malampaya gas field operates under Service Contract 38, with a consortium of private and state partners. 

Prime Energy Resources Development, the energy firm of billionaire Enrique Razon Jr., holds a 45% participating interest following its acquisition of the stake previously owned by Shell, and is the current operator of Service Contract 38. Meanwhile, another 45% is held by UC38 LLC, a subsidiary of Udenna Corporation, with the remaining 10% retained by the Philippine National Oil Company–Exploration Corporation ( PNOC-EC ), the state-owned energy firm.

Prime Energy’s Razon told local reporters the discovery of MAE-1 is a “victory for the Filipino people”.

“When we assumed operatorship, we committed to the president and the nation to breathe new life into Malampaya and revitalize the indigenous natural gas sector. Today, we are delivering on that commitment,” Razon says.

Existing offshore infrastructure

As the original Malampaya field matures and output declines, nearby discoveries such as MAE-1 aim to extend the field’s contribution to energy security by tapping additional gas resources using existing offshore infrastructure.

In his announcement of the discovery, Marcos also says in addition to natural gas, condensate, a high-value liquid fuel, was also discovered on the MAE-1 site.

Marcos also praised the all-Filipino team that made the discovery. “This proves that through responsible environmental stewardship and strong cooperation between the government and the private sector, we can achieve a more reliable energy supply for every Filipino,” he says. 

MAE-1 marks the first milestone under the Malampaya Phase 4 Drilling Campaign, which also includes the Camago-2 and Bagong Pag-asa wells. Following MAE-1, the next steps involve the completion and testing of Camago-3, to be followed by the drilling of the Pag-asa exploration well to pursue additional gas resources.