Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos yesterday said a “significant” discovery of natural gas had been made near the country’s sole producing offshore site.
About 98bn cubic feet (2.8bn cubic metres) of natural gas – enough to provide power to 5.7mn homes for a year – has been found east of the Malampaya Field near the island of Palawan, Marcos said.
The Philippines has some of the region’s highest energy costs and faces a looming crisis as the Malampaya gas field, which supplies about 40% of power to the archipelago’s main island, Luzon, is expected to run dry within a few years. The discovery – 5kms east of the Malampaya Field – is the first in more than a decade and suggested the potential to produce even more, Marcos said.
“This helps Malampaya’s contribution and strengthens our domestic gas supply for many years to come. Initial testing showed that the well flowed at 60mn cubic feet per day,” Marcos said in a statement.