As the Malampaya natural gas field is drying up, Mindanao might have the indigenous energy resources to energize the country.
In a webinar of Davao International Conference 2021 Thursday, PNOC Exploration Corp. (PNOC EC) vice president for upstream operation Jaime Bacud said Mindanao is rich in indigenous resources that can support the country’s energy requirement.
Bacud said Mindanao alone has three sedimentary basins waiting for exploration for oil and gas resources.
These basins include Agusan, Cotabato, and the Sulu Sea.
“We still think that there is natural gas potential for these areas, and it could be where we could find the next Malampaya,” Bacud added.
The Malampaya gas field, which supplies around 30 percent of Luzon’s power requirement, is the country’s lone natural gas source.
As the government issued a moratorium on new coal projects, Bacud said oil and gas exploration, particularly in Mindanao, could help in the government’s goal to achieve energy independence.
“We still have a lot of natural or oil and gas resources that are still untapped. And this could be our way forward to get closer to what we call energy independence,” he added.*PNA
