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Antonio Mozetic1,
Griselda J. G. Bausa2,
Ismael U. Ocampo2
(1) Shell Philippines Exploration B.V, Metro Manila 1780, Philippines
(2) Department of Energy - Republic of the Philippines, Metro Manila 1201, Philippines
Abstract: The Malampaya Deep Water Gas to Power Project
The Philippines comprises a region of complex geology along a 400-km-wide zone of active tectonism between the Philippine Sea and Eurasian plates where abundant oil and gas seepages have guided exploration for over a century. However, all significant discoveries are located in the more stable NW Palawan Basin in the eastern margin of the Eurasian plate.
Following the discovery of oil in NW Palawan in 1976, several small oil and gas discoveries in Tertiary carbonates were made, but the development of the Malampaya Field represents the first large-scale commercialisation of gas in the Philippines.
In 1989, Occidental drilled the Camago-1 exploration well, which discovered gas in intensely fractured Nido carbonates. Shell farmed into the acreage that included Camago-1 during 1990 acquiring a 149 km2 3D survey over the Malampaya and Camago area in 1991. The Malampaya-1 discovery well was drilled by Shell in 1992, encountering a 400 metre gas column underlain by an oil leg. The 3-D PSDM and five wells form the basis for comprehensive subsurface modelling studies that led to the definition of the 3.3 Tscf and 120 million barrels of gas and condensate reserves, respectively, that underpin the commercial development of the Malampaya Field.
The development will consist of five subsea wells and a manifold in 820 metres of water tied back to a shallow-water platform. The gas will reach to the south of Luzon Island via a 504-km-long pipeline traversing environmentally sensitive, bathymetrically challenging and tectonically active submarine terrain.
AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90914©2000 AAPG Annual Convention, New Orleans, Louisiana