Malampaya seeks contract extension

MANILA, Philippines — The Malampaya consortium, which now includes Davao-based businessman Dennis Uy’s Udenna Corp., hopes to find several new wells in areas near the Malampaya site, which could provide new gas supply for the country for at least 10 years, industry sources said.

However, digging the wells could take time. Thus, this early, the consortium is already seeking an extension when its contract expires in 2024.

The ideal extension is 15 years, of which the consortium would spend five years to dig and explore new wells, one source said.

“That is the reason for the extension. There could be new wells near SC 38,” another source said, referring to Service Contract 38, the government contract that covers the Malampaya facility in offshore Palawan.

The Malampaya gas field is the Philippines’ largest and only commercially producing gas field.

The Malampaya consortium has already made a formal request to the Department of Energy to extend its contract with the government.

The facility is said to be on the tailend of its lifespan with the gas already depleted by 2022, but industry sources said the extension is really for the exploration of nearby wells covered in the contract but not the Malampaya facility.

The Malampaya project is being developed and operated by Shell Philippines Exploration BV with a 45-percent stake on behalf of joint-venture partners Udenna Corp., which acquired Chevron’s 45-percent stake and PNOC-EC (Philippine National Oil Co.-Exploration Corp.), which holds the remaining 10 percent.

The STAR reported earlier that Uy’s Udenna acquired the 45 percent stake of Chevron Philippines in the $4.5 billion Malampaya project. Udenna confirmed the report.

Uy, CEO and chairman of Udenna, said his group believes in the benefit of promoting natural gas as an essential fuel to support the country’s growing energy needs and economic growth.

The Malampaya fuels roughly 40 to 50 percent of Luzon’s power requirements.