Prime Infrastructure Capital Inc. (Prime Infra) started first gas at the Malampaya Phase 4 (MP4) project in Batangas City, Philippines, contributing to helping sustain regional indigenous natural gas supply.

Marking the Philippines’ first offshore drilling campaign in more than a decade, the MP4 project brings natural gas from the Malampaya East-1 and Camago-3 wells into the existing Malampaya production system, which supplies gas-fired power plants in Batangas serving the Luzon grid.

Requiring an investment of close to $1 billion, MP4 involved drilling two deepwater wells and installing subsea infrastructure connecting them to the existing Malampaya production platform.

The project added an estimated 222 bcf of recoverable natural gas reserves capable of generating about 31.46 billion kw-hr of electricity, which is enough to power 13.11 million Filipino households for about 1 year.

MP4 was completed in 27 months after final investment decision, which was about 5 months ahead of its original schedule and 5 months ahead of the industry benchmark, Prime Infra said in a release Nov. 5.

Based on initial well-test results, the two wells will extend Malampaya’s productive life by about 6 years, depending on future gas offtake.

Following first gas, the integration and ramp-up of the new wells into the existing production system will continue over the coming months.

Sustainable production levels will be established as operating data becomes available, the company said.