PBBM economic team to present biz opportunities to Japanese investors

Malampaya project remitted $13B to gov’t since inception: Prime Infra

Razon-led Malampaya facility operator

Prime Infrastructure Capital Inc. said Wednesday that the gas field has remitted $13 billion to the national government since its inception over two decades ago.

The Service Contract (SC) 38 or the Malampaya project began operations in 2001.

“The SC 38 has generated and remitted to the Philippine government some $13 billion since its inception,” Prime Infrastructure Capital Inc. (Prime Infra) president and CEO Guillaume Lucci said in a statement.

The Malampaya gas field is operated through SC 38 granted to the consortium of Prime Energy Resources Development B.V. (Prime Energy)—a subsidiary of Prime Infra— Dennis Uy-led UC38LLC and state-run firm Philippine National Oil Company-Exploration Corp. (PNOC-EC).

The consortium’s license for the project is set to expire in 2024.

The economic team of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. is scheduled to meet with the Japanese business community on Friday to tout the Philippines’ robust economy and lure more investments.

Prime Infra has expressed intent to seek an extension of the consortium’s license.

Lucci said the consortium remains committed to ensuring gas supply from the depleting Malampaya gas field.

“Our drop-dead day to produce new gas or new wells is the first quarter of 2026, and we hope we can actually accelerate that as much as possible while doing it safely and reliably,” he said.

“We’re here to stay, we’re here to invest, we’re here to dramatically increase gas production with the extended term of the service contract and resources available, and, more importantly, we are trying to make sure we produce at the least cost to consumers,” he added.

The Malampaya project is one of the country’s most important power assets, as it produces natural gas for power plants in Batangas City that account for around 20% of the Philippines’ total electricity requirements.

The holding of the fourth Philippine Economic Briefing (PEB) coincides with Marcos’ official visit to Tokyo from Feb. 8 to 12.

“President Marcos’ trip seeks to further strengthen the strategic partnership between the Philippines and Japan, including economic and defense cooperation,” the Department of

Budget and Management (DBM) said in a statement on Thursday.

“The PEB, scheduled on February 10, will have the country’s economic managers discussing investment opportunities in the Philippines,” it added.

The economic managers joining Marcos on the Japan trip were Finance

Secretary Benjamin Diokno, Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas governor Felipe Medalla, and National Economic and Development Authority director general and Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan.

During the first part of the PEB, Diokno would present the country’s economic performance and outlook, while Pangandaman would discuss the important features of the 2023 national budget, as well as the Marcos adminis- tration’s budget reform initiatives and priority legislative agenda, the DBM said.

The DBM said there would also be a panel discussion with the Philippine economic managers.

The second part of the forum would cover the infrastructure and industry sectors, it added.

The Budget department said Secretaries Alfredo Pascual (Trade), Manuel Bonoan (Public Works), Christina Frasco (Tourism), and Jaime Bautista (Transportation) would serve as panelists.