New Malampaya gas field discovered—Marcos

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has announced that a natural gas field was found near the Malampaya field that is set to make a major boost to the country's gas and electricity supply.

In a video posted on his social media page, Marcos referred to the new energy reservoir as Malampaya East 1 or MAE-1, which is located approximately five kilometers east of the original Malampaya field and is estimated to contain around 98 billion cubic feet of gas.

"I am pleased to inform everyone that for the first time in over a decade, a significant natural gas discovery has been made," Marcos said.

Marcos added that the gas field's potential can power up to 14 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity per year, and can supply power to around 5.7 million households, 9,500 buildings, or almost 200,000 schools in a year.

Resources flowed at 60 million cubic feet per day in the reservoir as per tests. The well also yielded condensate, a high-value liquid fuel.

"This indicates the well has the potential to produce even more, confirming it is a high-productivity resource comparable to the original Malampaya wells,” Marcos added.

Marcos also took pride at the Filipinos' role in the project. “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 milestone under the Malampaya Phase 4 drilling campaign, which also includes the Camago-2, Camago-3, and Bagong Pag-asa wells, aimed at securing additional gas resources," he added.

The project was pursued by the SC3A consortium led by Prime Energy, in partnership with UC38 PNOC Exploration Corporation and Prime Oil & Gas Inc.