Prime awards key supply deals
‘Exploration and development of a late-life gas field like Malampaya requires extraordinary feats of engineering, which we are committed to deliver safely’
Prime Energy Resources Development B.V., the operator of the Malampaya natural gas field, has awarded major contracts needed to jumpstart the drilling of new wells in the area aimed at augmenting local power supply.
Prime Energy said on Tuesday that a contract was awarded to One Subsea of the Schlumberger group for the supply of wellheads, control equipment, and subsea production systems by the end of 2024.
The equipment will be used for Malampaya Phase 4 to drill and tie in two new deepwater wells in the Camago and Malampaya East fields to the Malampaya Shallow Water Platform.
Additionally, the company has also awarded other major contracts to secure deepwater drilling units, specialized pipeline manufacturing, and integrated well services — subject to partner approval by UC38 LLC and PNOC Exploration Corp.
“Exploration and development of a late-life gas field like Malampaya requires extraordinary feats of engineering, which we are committed to deliver safely,” Prime Energy managing director and general manager, Donnabel Kuizon Cruz said.
“We want to help ensure that Filipino consumers continue to enjoy stable and predictable electricity prices, a protection that we wish to continue offering for the long term, para sa bayan.”
Audit hurdled
Last week, Malampaya successfully passed an external independent review, the Estimate Schedule Analysis Review, or ESAR, which concluded that the project’s schedule estimate is sound.
Prime Energy plans to drill a third well, called Bagong Pag-Asa, as part of the 2025 drilling campaign, subject to partner approvals.
The exploration well will determine the presence of oil and gas in a structure approximately 15 kilometers from Malampaya, hopefully, to further extend the flow of indigenous gas for the benefit of the Philippines.
A complex project of this nature has not been done for more than a decade in the Philippines, as Service Contract No. 38 has only been renewed in April 2023.
Prime Energy and its partners secured the renewal of the Malampaya project for an additional 15 years up to 2039.
According to Prime Energy, successful drilling could lead to the commercial production of natural gas that could augment the country’s power supply by 2026.
Once viable gas supplies are uncovered within the Malampaya Phase 4, Prime Energy said it is ready to install necessary pipelines that would be tied into the existing Malampaya production facilities.