The government is optimistic that all new wells of the Malampaya gas field would yield fuel and could be tapped to generate electricity even beyond President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s term, Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Sharon Garin said on Tuesday.
Garin said that awarding drilling contracts for the three wells showed that President Marcos wanted to secure the country’s energy sources well beyond his term.
“I think the President is not just concerned about your needs today or until 2028. I think he is concerned about the long-term needs of our country,” Garin said in a Malacañang press briefing.
If the drillings yield gas, the wells could supply electricity for 10 years.
“Ito, ten years pa ito, alam niya ten years pa ang epekto into, pero he wants this to secure the future of the next generation. That’s why he went there,” Garin added, referring to President Marcos’ aerial inspection of the Malampaya drilling off Palawan on Monday.
Garin said that two wells – Camago-3 and Malampaya East – are showing excellent prospects, while the government is also optimistic that the third, Bagong Pagasa, will become an additional source.
“And once we know na meron nga, siguro ang kailangan lang ay isang taon para i-connect ‘yan sa Malampaya (platform) natin, and then by late next year, we will have electricity from the new wells already,” the energy chief added.
During the aerial inspection on Monday, President Marcos flew over the platform where workers waved at his passing helicopter, and the drilling ship Noble Viking, which is now engaged in boring through at least three kilometers of seabed at Camago-3, Malampaya East, and Bagong Pagasa.
Garin commended the Marcos administration for awarding drilling contracts for the three sites, saying past administrations had issued fewer and fewer contracts for Malampaya over the years.
“Kung di ito ginawa ngayon, mauubusan tayo ng gas,” Garin explained.
Malampaya, the country’s first and only indigenous gas resource, currently supplies about 20 percent of Luzon’s electricity needs. It started commercial production in January 2002.
Meanwhile, Garin revealed that the Marcos administration plans to award eight more gas exploration contracts, including two of the first hydrogen contracts in the world and two of the first contracts for the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. | PND
