March 15, 2024, Manila, Philippines—Prime Energy Resources Development B.V. (Prime Energy) recently awarded a major contract for the Malampaya Phase IV Project to Noble, one of the largest offshore drilling contractors in the world.

The contract is for the use of Noble’s deepwater drillship “Noble Viking” to drill twoDeepwater development wells in the Camago and Malampaya East fields, as well as a third exploration well, Bagong Pagasa, approximately 15 kilometers north of Malampaya.

The Noble Viking drilling rig is considered state-of-the-art in its Deepwater category, with Dual Derricks and integrated Managed Pressure Drilling (MPD) systems on board. This rig contract comes on the back of two earlier awarded contracts for the supply of Long Lead materials; Offshore Casing and Tubular Goods (OCTG) and Wellhead equipment, with a combined value of some USD 45 million.

“We are very proud of the milestones that the hard-working team of Filipinos in Prime Energy achieve month on month to ensure that we are on track for the planned drilling in 2025,” Prime Energy Managing Director and General Manager Donnabel Kuizon Cruz said.

“Malampaya gas has served us for more than 20 years. We are committed to continue providing reliable flow and supply of indigenous gas to our customers, protecting Filipino consumers from volatile forces that affect oil and gas prices,“ Cruz added.

“Noble is pleased to join together with Prime Energy in this important drilling campaign which will ultimately contribute to improved energy security for the Philippines,” said Blake Denton, Noble SVP for Marketing and Contracts.

Service Contract no. 38 (SC 38), which governs the Malampaya project, was extended for another fifteen years until February 2039. The consortium has remitted more than USD 13.5 billion from 2001 to end of 2023.