Manila Just Struck Gas Near the Waning Malampaya Field: Now What?
Local energy industry players and pundits say the find buys Manila time. But according to an economist, 'Gas without strategy is wasted opportunity.'
by JV Ordoñez
Published on Jan 19, 2026
At long last, the Philippine government has made its first natural gas find in more than a decade near the 25-year-old Malampaya gas field, which is estimated to be depleted as early as 2027.
In a video posted on his Facebook page on Jan. 19, Monday, Philippine President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos, Jr. announced that a major natural gas field called the Malampaya East-1 reservoir (MAE-1) located about five kilometers east of the existing Malampaya field off Palawan province is estimated to contain about 98 billion cubic feet of gas in place.
"This is equivalent to almost 14 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity in one year. This means it can supply electricity to more than 5.7 million households, 9,500 buildings, or nearly 200,000 schools within one year," he said in Filipino.
"This is proof that through responsible care for the environment and strong cooperation between government and the private sector, we can achieve a more reliable energy supply for every Filipino."
The President also said that the Filipino-led discovery happened without any accidents or environmental disasters.
The newly-discovered gas source has enough juice to power about 14 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity a year, or enough for about 5.7 million Filipino households.
This is a sigh of relief for the Southeast Asian nation that has come under intense pressure to seek out other sources of energy amid the looming depletion of the Malampaya gas field, which supplies a fifth of all power generated in the country.
Marcos noted that he was optimistic about the new natural gas source stabilizing the country's power supply even in the face of constant blackouts and underwhelming power generation.
Initial signs and testing point to the well flowing at about 60 million cubic feet per day, which the commander-in-chief said is comparable to the original Malampaya wells and a sign of robust productivity.
A Fork in the Energy Road: What Experts think
Manila discovered the Malampaya gas field in the 1990s and started producing gas in 2001. It has since undergone a quarter-century of topsy-turvy ownership and squandered potential.
Multinational energy company Shell originally oversaw and operated the field with venture partners Chevron Malampaya and the Philippine National Oil Compay Exploration Corp. In 2019, ownership was turned over to Dennis Uy and his Udenna Corp. , which was an eyebrow-raising development considering the businessman's lack of experience in gas exploration, despite ownership of oil retailer Phoenix Petroleum.
Two years later, Enrique Razon, Jr.-run Prime Infra Holdings acquired a controlling stake in the field, operating behind the ethos of "Filipino companies to handle the reins of a critical power infrastructure" and pursuing "national energy independence."
Despite the service contract already set to expire in 2024, President Marcos gave the green light for its extension to 2039 for the Prime Infra, Udenna, and the Philippine National Oil Company consortium to drill new wells and to conduct more studies to extend the field's lifespan.
MAE-1's discovery is still just the first discovery under the Malampaya Phase 4 Drilling Campaign.
"The Malampaya East discovery is a strategic milestone that advances national energy security, revitalizes upstream activity, and reinforces the Philippines as an investable energy market," Philippine Petroleum Association President Edgar Benedict Cutiongco told Esquire Philippines in an interview via Viber. "A successful discovery signals regulatory continuity, geological prospectivity, and infrastructure longevity—key factors that attract capital to Philippine acreage."
The gas industry leader noted that these indigenous gas sources and efforts to harness them cut import dependence, stabilize baseload power, and shield consumers from global price volatility. Think of it as a development that would boost long-term supply planning and a step forward for a balanced energy transition.
On the other hand, IBON Foundation Executive Director Sonny Africa stressed that new natural gas is only short-term relief with limited scale and could be yet another sign that the government has failed to learn in relation to foreign dependence and energy security.
"The Philippines gained electricity and revenues but in effect lost three decades of opportunities to build Filipino industrial and technological capacity in energy development," Africa told Esquire Philippines in a Viber message. Manila's regional neighbors have the right idea when it comes to boosting their national energy capacity domestically, he said.
"The country's energy policy and industrial capability will gain by shifting from foreign-dependent extraction to Filipino capability-building and structural transformation. Otherwise, we risk repeating the Malampaya story again and again with different fuel sources," Africa noted.
Good News That Fuels Doubts
Of course, scrutiny does not escape the Marcos administration especially against the backdrop of allegations of terrible fiscal mismanagement and graft and corruption with the whole flood control fiasco and questionable kickback schemes that only serve to fatten the pockets of certian individuals.
Leonardo Lanzona, who teaches economics at the Ateneo de Manila University, raised concern over the curious timing of this announcement.
"My fear is that this is being used as a communication strategy to divert people's attention away from the corruption scandal. Their hope is that people will now forget the government's poor response to the scandal," he said in a Facebook Messenger chat.
While not diminishing the discovery's actual benefit to the country's energy security efforts, the economist acknowledges the development as a medium-term stop-gap measure to deter an imminent energy crisis, rather than a far-reaching catalyst for the Philippines' energy landscape.
In 2024, Marcos said that the Philippines would look into exploring gas reserves in non-conflict areas within the country's exclusive economic zone in the South China Sea even amidst China's aggression in the waterway.
The President noted that talks with China on oil and gas exploration in the strategic waterway have not progressed due to disagreements on which areas fall within their respective territories.
Manila is trying to boost its share of renewable energy in the power generation mix to 35 percent by 2030 and to 50 percent by 2040. Renewables currently account for 22 percent of the Philippine energy mix.
Around this time in 2025 , the President signed into law a bill that aims to develop the country's natural gas industry and to promote natural gas as a "cost-effective source of energy and an indispensable contributor to energy security."
Under the Philippine Natural Gas Industry Development Act, power produced from indigenous natural gas will have priority over other conventional energy sources.
Entities may hold interest in upstream and downstream natural gas facilities as well as the supply of natural gas, but this will be subject to competition laws.
"Gas without strategy is wasted opportunity," said Africa.
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