The national government expects to collect only P8 billion in royalties this year from the aging offshore Malampaya natural gas project, according to Surigao del Sur Rep. Johnny Pimentel.
“The sum is P9.7 billion or 55 percent less than the P17.7 billion in Malampaya royalties that the government received in 2023,” Pimentel said.
“We are counting on government royalties from the 24-year-old gas project to gradually recover and increase — hopefully starting in 2026 or 2027 – after two new deep water production wells are put in place under Phase 4,” he added.
Based on Malacañang’s 2025 Budget of Expenditures and Sources of Financing submitted to Congress, Pimentel said the estimated government royalties from Malampaya had been reduced to P8 billion this year and P5 billion in 2025.
Over the 10-year period from 2014 to 2023 alone, the government received an aggregate of P200 billion in Malampaya royalties or an average of P20 billion per year.
“However, Malampaya is not just about government royalties. It is, more importantly, about the country’s energy independence and security,” Pimentel noted.
“We need indigenous gas supplies to reduce import dependence, and to insulate the country from harmful global fuel price shocks,” he pointed out.
Malampaya’s gas supplies were used to run major power plants in Luzon over the years.
Pimentel credited Malampaya operator Prime Energy Resources Development B.V for its bold initiative to extract fresh gas supplies and prolong the project’s productive life by at least another 15 years through Phase 4.
Under Phase 4, Prime Energy expects to spend up to $600 million or P35 billion to drill two new production wells, and then hook them up to the Malampaya shallow water platform.
Drilling is set for the second quarter of 2025, with the aim to deliver new gas by 2026.
