The British oil and gas company Shell has sold its 45% stake in the 4.4 bcm/year Malampaya offshore gas project, located off the coast of Palawan Island, southwestern Philippines.
Shell has completed the sale of its 100% shareholding in Shell Philippines Exploration (SPEX) to Malampaya Energy XP (MEXP), a subsidiary of the Philippine company Prime Infra. SPEX, under the new ownership of Prime Infra, will continue to own a 45% operating interest and be the operator of the Malampaya gas field.
The other members of the Service Contract 38 consortium which owns the gas project are UC38, a subsidiary of the Philippines’ Udenna Corporation, and The Philippine National Oil Company Exploration Corporation. They respectively own 45% and 10% of participating interests.
The 429 mcf/day (12.1 mcm/day) Malampaya field was first discovered in 1991 and began commercial operations in 2001. It notably supplies natural gas for three power plants totalling 2.7 GW in the Batangas province, on the country’s largest and most populous island of Luzon. Shell first announced its intention to offload its stake in the gas field in May 2021.