New Malampaya gas platform marks brighter energy future

MANILA, Philippines - Time and again, powering a nation’s progress has always been a story about people power. A vision comes to life out of the resilience, commitment and sheer hard work of a group of passionate individuals who share the same goal.

This is the same story of the Malampaya Deep Water Gas-to-Power project that, through the years, has become one of the Philippines’ largest and most significant industrial endeavors.

 The project recently marked another milestone in the country’s energy history with the inauguration of its second offshore platform.

The new facility, together with two production wells completed in 2013 and the existing offshore platform from 2001, will sustain the cleaner-burning natural gas that Malampaya provides to power 30 percent of the country’s energy needs.  

This feat gains added significance as service contract 38 also marks its 25th anniversary. SC 38, signed by the late President Corazon C. Aquino in December 1990, laid the foundation for the Malampaya gas project and signalled the birth of the country’s natural gas industry. 

In a message delivered by Energy Secretary Zenaida Monsada on behalf of President Aquino at the ceremonial inauguration held at the Shangri-La Hotel in Makati, the government continued to underscore the vital role of Malampaya not only in the Philippine upstream oil industry but also in revitalizing the country’s economy.

 “With the Malampaya gas field, we are increasingly using natural gas for our power plants that drives the country’s major economic cities and provinces. We encourage both local and foreign stakeholders to shift to finding alternatives like natural gas. It’s one of the greener pathways to development. All this contributes to our collective goal of inclusive growth,” she said.

 More than supporting energy security, the second platform—a Depletion Compression Platform (DCP)—is the first large-scale technological marvel of its kind to be designed and built in the country. It is located next to the existing Malampaya Shallow Water Platform, located some 50 kilometers offshore from Palawan in the western Philippines.

On the part of the project’s joint venture partners, “Malampaya is one of the best examples of a highly successful public-private partnership. It’s a testament to the simple truth that if we work together towards a noble goal, there is so much more we can achieve,” said Sebastian Quiniones, managing director of Shell Philippines Exploration, B.V. (SPEX).

 Designing and building the new offshore platform provided around 1,400 jobs for Filipinos in a span of two years. Moreover, the Malampaya project as a whole is now 99 percent run by Filipinos, in contrast to 50 percent when the project first started production in 2001.

“The project is an investment in the country’s future. It facilitated the transfer of innovative technology, elevated thousands of Filipinos’ technical capabilities to world-class standards and unlocked a new phase in the Philippines by helping local companies develop capacity to build offshore platforms,” explained Quiniones.  

The latest phase in Malampaya has placed the Philippines on the world map of oil and gas platform fabrication. The country now has a competitive edge in pitching for future oil and gas projects in the region and worldwide.  

“As the developer and operator of Malampaya, we are very proud and humbled to witness the fruits of successful collaboration and hard work that enabled us to deliver world-class performance in efficiency, delivery and most of all, in safety,” enthused Quiniones.

The building of the new infrastructure set an impressive record of 11.8 million safe man hours despite the challenging engineering feat of building a platform with an innovative, self-installing technology. Both the existing and new platforms are designed to withstand the numerous typhoons and earthquakes that the Philippines is susceptible to.

 “Malampaya is a symbol of the country’s continuous journey towards energy self-sufficiency,” continued Quiniones. “The story of Malampaya is a story of power. We finished strong because of the unwavering Filipino spirit. And now we continue on the journey towards a cleaner energy future for the country’s sustained growth and progress.”