The Philippines has discovered a new natural gas field for the first time in ten years.
ASEAN Headline News: According to Reuters, Philippine President Marcos announced on January 19 that natural gas has been discovered in the MAE-1 gas well, located near the Malapaya gas field on Palawan Island in the Philippines.
This is the country's first natural gas exploration breakthrough in over a decade. It is reported that the gas well is approximately five kilometers away from the existing gas fields. The initial estimate of the natural gas reserves is about 2.77 billion cubic meters, and it is expected to support approximately 14 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity generation annually.
The Malapaya gas field is currently the only domestic natural gas supply source for the Philippines. The project is jointly operated by 38 enterprises including Prime Energy, UC38, PNOC Exploration Company, and Prime Oil and Gas Inc.