Philippines: Oil, gas surveys revived after 46 years

Manila: The Philippines is restarting large-scale mapping of its oil and natural gas "basins" after more than four decades, with a new survey aimed at identifying potential domestic energy resources and attracting private exploration.

The Department of Energy (DoE) presented the ₱2.8-billion ($44.6 millio) behind Philippine Gradiometry and Seismic Survey Project during a Senate hearing on Thursday as part of its proposed 2027 budget.

By sinking state funds into the four-year programme, the agency expects generate new geological and geophysical data covering about 120,000 square kilometres in two basins:

The government says the information could reduce one of the biggest barriers to petroleum exploration: the high cost and uncertainty of drilling without reliable information about what lies beneath the ground.

“It’s a milestone that after so many decades, we are again investing in our own basins,” DOE Assistant Secretary Mario Marasigan said during the hearing, the Philippine News Agency reported.

The Philippines has long relied heavily on imported energy, while its only major indigenous natural-gas field, Malampaya, has been approaching depletion.

Government data cited by the Presidential Communications Office show that fossil fuel imports accounted for 52% of the Philippines' total primary energy supply in 2025, while domestic sources accounted for 48%. Imported LNG also supplied 55% of the country's natural gas, with Malampaya providing the remaining 45%.

That makes new domestic discoveries strategically important.

The government pursuing several tracks at once: extending Malampaya production, exploring other petroleum basins and developing emerging resources such as geothermal energy and native hydrogen.

In January, the government announced a new natural-gas discovery at Malampaya East-1, part of the expanded Malampaya project. The discovery was described as the country's first significant natural-gas find in more than a decade.

The first stage covers approximately 40,000 square kilometres of the Agusan-Davao Basin.

The DOE awarded the first phase of the airborne geophysical survey to UK-based company Metatek in August. The work uses airborne gradiometry to gather information about subsurface geological structures.

The programme will subsequently expand to the Visayan Basin, bringing the total survey area to about 120,000 square kilometres.

Airborne data will be followed by 2D seismic surveys, processing and interpretation, according to the DOE.

The objective is broader than simply looking for oil.

The department says the new data could support exploration for oil, natural gas, native hydrogen and geothermal resources, providing a common geological database for future investment and energy planning.

Marasigan said earlier geological studies conducted in the 1970s and 1980s suggested that the Agusan-Davao and Visayan basins were gas-prone.

But exploration did not develop significantly at the time, partly because natural gas was not yet as commercially important to the Philippine energy system.

The DOE now sees an opportunity to revisit those areas using much more advanced technology.

The last comparable government-funded data acquisition programme was conducted in the 1980s with World Bank financing, according to Marasigan.

The new survey effectively updates a decades-old geological picture.

The DOE has programmed about ₱2.789 billion for the project.

According to the department's estimates presented to the Senate, the project could generate a 602% return on investment by reducing exploration risks and encouraging private companies to bid for petroleum service contracts.

The government estimates that the survey area could support as many as 120 exploration service contracts.

Even if only 10% of that potential is developed, the DOE estimates it could attract about ₱16.8 billion in private investment, before counting the value of any commercially viable oil or gas discoveries.

Those figures are government projections, not guaranteed discoveries or investment returns.

A seismic or geophysical survey can identify geological structures that may contain hydrocarbons, but only drilling can establish whether commercially recoverable oil or gas is actually present.

The basin survey is not an isolated initiative. In April, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. signed two new petroleum service contracts, including one for development of the Alegria Oil and Gas Field in Cebu.

The government said the awards brought the number of petroleum service contracts granted under his administration to 12.

The government has also been expanding exploration for resources beyond conventional petroleum.

In July, the DOE and US-based Koloma began a 2D seismic survey in Pangasinan to investigate geological formations that could contain native hydrogen.

Meanwhile, the Malampaya project is being expanded through new wells. The government expects additional production from the Malampaya East and Camago prospects as the field's operators develop the next phase.

The immediate result of the new basin survey will not be new oil or gas production. Its first output will be better geological information.

If that information confirms promising structures, companies could subsequently seek exploration contracts, conduct seismic work and drill wells.

Commercial production would come only after discoveries are proven technically and economically viable and the necessary development approvals are secured.

But the government sees better geological data as an important first step.

“Energy security begins with knowing what we have,” Energy Secretary Sharon Garin said when the first phase was awarded. The project, she said, is intended to replace guesswork with scientific data and support responsible development of domestic resources.

For a country that imports more than half of its primary energy supply, the calculation is straightforward: before the Philippines can decide how much indigenous oil and gas it can develop, it needs to know what is actually beneath its territory.

In July, the (DOE), together with the Municipality of Bugallon, Pangasinan and Koloma, Inc., launched the 2D seismic survey under Service Contract No. 84, marking a key milestone in the country's efforts to evaluate its native hydrogen potential.

The survey will map subsurface geological structures and identify potential native hydrogen-bearing formations to guide succeeding exploration activities.

If commercially viable resources are confirmed, native hydrogen could provide an additional indigenous energy source that supports the country's clean energy transition while strengthening long-term energy security.