(From left: Chevron Malampaya LLC Asset Manager Sabino Santos, Shell Philippines Exploration B.V. Managing Director Sebastian Quiniones, Shell Country Chairman Edgar Chua, President Benigno Simeon Aquino III, Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima, Energy Secretary Rene Almendras, Philippine National Oil Company-Exploration Corporation Chairman Mel Lopez)

Members of the consortium, Shell Philippines Exploration BV (45%), Chevron Malampaya LLC (45%), and Philippine National Oil Company-Exploration Corporation (PNOC-EC) (10%), operating Service Contract 38 or the Malampaya Deep Water Gas-to-Power Project (Malampaya Project) symbolically remitted a check worth $1.134 Billion to the National Government in a ceremony held in Malacanang Palace on 20 January 2012 led by President Benigno Simeon C. Aquino, III. The Malampaya Project is the largest and most significant industrial endeavor in the country. Phase 1 of the Project is considered as the single biggest investment in the country with an estimated Capital Outlay of about US$4.5 billion.

The consortium has also recently committed to invest an additional $950 Million to sustain the production levels of the natural gas of the project. These include the drilling of additional wells (Malampaya Phase 2 for completion in 2013) and the installation of compression capacity (Malampaya Phase 3 for completion in 2015). The Philippines promotes the use of indigenous oil and gas resources such as the Malampaya project to cut down the country’s dependence on imported fuel for power generation. Malampaya currently supplies around 42% of the energy requirements of Luzon through three natural gas power plants with a total capacity of 2,700 MW.