The continuing breakthroughs and innovations of Malampaya
The Malampaya deep-water gas-to-power project heralded the birth of the natural gas industry in the Philippines in 2001. Since then, it has benefitted the country in many ways—contributing billions of pesos in government revenue share, and most importantly, providing a stable supply of cleaner energy and supplying up to 30 percent of the country’s energy requirements.
Its latest stage, the Malampaya Phase 3 (MP3) project—implemented by Shell Philippines Exploration BV on behalf of the Malampaya joint venture partners— involves the design, fabrication and installation of a new depletion compression platform (DCP). It is the first offshore gas platform to be built in the Philippines, and with this distinction comes several attendant breakthroughs in technology, innovation and progress.
First, it necessitated the construction of the tallest gantry crane in Southeast Asia. MP3’s local fabrication contractor, Keppel Subic Shipyard, constructed a 1,500-ton gantry crane to execute the critical heavy-lift activities required for the DCP construction. The gantry crane opens doors for future oil and gas industry projects to be constructed in the Philippines.
Second, zero-incident work has been reported in the seabed preparation process. Laying the foundation for the installation of the DCP’s legs may sound like a simple task, but transporting 41,000 tons of rock from the quarry site in Angono, shipping it out of Luzon via the Batangas port, and installing it on the seafloor involved numerous challenges. The work was achieved with zero injuries, which demonstrate Shell’s utmost commitment to safety, implementing operations without fatalities or incidents and with Health, Safety, Security and Environment (HSSE) as the highest priority.
Third, the MP3 is a remarkable “self-installing” technology. Early this year, the MP3 platform was towed from its fabrication site in Subic Bay and installed beside the existing Malampaya plat- form in the West Philippine Sea, near Palawan. The platform is designed to float, and the inbuilt jacking system will enable the 80-meter legs to be jacked down to lift the platform from the water into its final position. This technology avoids the need for the large specialized vessels that are normally required for offshore platform installation. Both platforms are designed to withstand the typhoons and earthquakes which the Philippines experiences, and this represented a unique challenge for the designers of this type of structure.
Fourth is the fact that MP3 is a truly global effort. While Shell prioritized the use of locally available resources, the project is nevertheless a worldwide effort that brings into the country expertise, equipment and technical components from over 20 countries across America, Europe and Asia. The multinational team includes specialists from Britain, Malaysia, Netherlands and Belgium, to name a few—all of whom came to the Philippines to help Filipinos create a worldclass legacy.
Fifth and consequently, the capacity and capability of Filipino talent has been enhanced to world-class standards. The Malampaya Health, Safety and Environment (HSE) Training Center was inaugurated last year, and has so far enhanced the skills of over 9,000 Filipino workers to the worldclass HSE standards required by the global oil and gas industry. The mandatory training is required before being allowed to work with MP3, either in the fabrication yard or offshore.
Sixth, progress has spread in nearby communities where MP3 operates. Its nonprofit arm, the Malampaya Foundation Inc. ( MFI), implements strategic social investment programs at Subic, Zambales that include livelihood trainings, road safety and disaster response education. These programs enable hundreds of Filipinos to uplift and empower their lives long after the MP3 project is completed.
Last but not the least, MP3 is a project by Filipinos, for Filipinos. MP3 has provided over 1,400 direct new jobs for Filipinos and generated more business for local companies supporting the project. In the long term, it is seen to enable the Philippines to compete for future oil and gas projects both regionally and globally.
Like the rest of the Malampaya deep water gas-to-power project, MP3 has definitely become a symbol of pride for the Filipino nation with all these notable achievements.