Malampaya project operator Prime Energy Resources Development B.V. has awarded $69.9 million worth of contract to American firm Noble for the planned drilling of at least three new wells in the aim to reinforce gas production at the depleting field.

On the company’s announcement, it indicated that the ‘Nobel Viking’ drillship of the Texas-headquartered company will be initially used for the scheduled drilling of two wells – primarily on blocks straddling Camago and Malampaya east fields.

Prime Energy emphasized that part of the work commitment at the field will also be the drilling of a third exploration well – that will be in the Bagong Pag-asa block which is 15 kilometers north of Malampaya.

According to Prime Energy, a key feature of the ‘Noble Viking’ drilling rig would be its “dual derricks and integrated managed pressure drilling (MPD) systems on board.”

This is already the third in the series of contracts being awarded by the Malampaya consortium for its work program to extend the gas field’s production life cycle – the first two have been the supply of long lead materials and offshore casing and tubular goods (OCTG) as well as wellhead equipment.

The first two contracts had been pegged at $45 million; hence, the addition of the drilling rig procurement will round up the total worth of the awarded contracts to $114.9 million.

Prime Energy Managing Director and General Manager Donnabel K. Cruz conveyed that the Malampaya team is “on track for the planned drilling in 2025,” which is also aligned with the work program submitted by the consortium to the Department of Energy.

“We are committed to continue providing reliable flow and supply of indigenous gas to our customers, protecting Filipino consumers from volatile forces that affect oil and gas prices,“ Cruz said.

The drilling of the new wells is regarded as a major step to finally determine if additional gas can still be extracted from the Malampaya field – and that is tied to the 15-year extension granted by the Marcos administration to the project’s Service Contract (SC) 38 stretching from 2024 to 2039.

The energy department previously stated that the scale of investments to be injected by the Malampaya consortium would reach as much as $600-$660 million if additional commercial scale gas discovery will eventually be lifted from the near-fields of Malampaya.

Any additional volumes of production from the field will be covered in the gas sale and purchase agreement (GSPA) that Prime Energy had recently inked with First Gen Corporation – which in turn will be fed into the latter’s gas plants in Batangas.