THE Department of Energy (DOE) on Friday said the Malampaya Deep Water Gas-to-Power Project will undergo a one-month routine maintenance shutdown starting June 15.
The project, located offshore in northwest Palawan, is the country’s first and only indigenous source of natural gas, supplying roughly 20 percent of Luzon’s total electricity requirements.
The maintenance work will cover its two processing hubs, the Shallow Water Platform in Palawan and Onshore Gas Plant in Tabangao, Batangas City, which will both go through integrity inspections and mechanical, control and safety systems servicing.
While these are ongoing, supply of natural gas from Malampaya will temporarily stop, and power plants will temporarily switch to alternative fuel sources, the DOE said.
Meanwhile, the newly discovered Malampaya East-1R1 (MAE-1R1) and Camago-3S3 (CA-3S3) wells will be integrated into the existing infrastructure to boost the supply of natural gas and extend the project’s operational life.
The two wells — drilled under the $893-million Malampaya Phase 4 development campaign — are the country’s first significant domestic natural gas discoveries in over a decade.
Part of the Service Contract 38 (SC 38) license area and operated by Prime Energy with consortium partners UC38 LLC, Philippine National Oil Co. Exploration Corp., and Prime Oil and Gas Inc., the wells are projected to replenish declining gas reserves in the original site.
The DOE assured the public that the regular maintenance activity has been closely coordinated with relevant stakeholders.
