MANILA, Philippines — The consortium operating Service Contract 38 in offshore Palawan is on track to extend the life of the Malampaya gas field following a $180-million contract award to Dutch firm Allseas Nederland (Brasil) B.V.
SC 38 governs the Malampaya deep water gas-to-power project operated by Razon-led Prime Energy Resources Development and its partners - UC38 LLC, PNOC Exploration Corp. and Prime Oil and Gas Inc.
Under the new deal, Allseas will put up the pipeline and umbilicals to connect two new wells to the Malampaya shallow water platform.
Earlier, the SC 38 consortium awarded a contract to US-based OneSubsea for the supply of wellheads, control equipment and subsea production systems for the drilling program.
The wells are expected to be drilled next year as the Malampaya consortium aims to deliver new gas supply by 2026.
Through “Project Sinagtala,” the SC 38 consortium wants to develop Phase 4 of the Malampaya project to extend the life of the gas field in line with the 15-year extension granted to the consortium.
“As a service contractor to the government, we are committed to maintaining high standards of production and exploration that have defined the Malampaya project since its inception in 2001,” Prime Energy president and CEO Donnabel Cruz said.
The consortium is set to finalize the detailed well design within this year in preparation for the drilling program in 2025 while simultaneously advancing pipeline design to ensure that it can endure all load stress scenarios.
“By increasing our gas supply, we extend Malampaya’s life and sustain our own Filipino gas, always available and at a stable and predictable price,” Cruz noted.
The Malampaya gas field is the country’s first and only indigenous gas resource, supplying about 20 percent of Luzon’s electricity needs.
“We are fully prepared to proceed with Project Sinagtala, as we have, over the past year, built the required local expertise to successfully deliver the wells and install the required subsea infrastructure,” the Prime Energy official said.