Navy deploys drone to secure Malampaya

(UPDATE) THE Philippine Navy has deployed a surveillance drone as part of efforts to secure the Malampaya Natural Gas-to-Power (MNGPP) and other oil fields off Palawan in the West Philippine Sea against intruders to ensure uninterrupted operations.

Malampaya gas field — located 65 kilometers northwest of the island of Palawan — supplies 35 percent of Luzon's electrical power needs.

Palawan-based Western Command (Westcom) of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) said that it has deployed the Philippine Navy's Maritime Unmanned Air Reconnaissance Squadron (Muars)-71 Flight Alpha for the Joint Task Force Malampaya (JTFM) to conduct Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) capability to monitor potential incursions into the MNGPP.

According to Westcom, Flight Alpha can provide a sustained and real-time operating picture of MNGPP's platform and appendages within its five-nautical-mile-radius exclusion zone.

Unmanned aerial reconnaissance could provide extensive monitoring information to other oil and gas stakeholders, such as the Floating Production, Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel «Rubicon Balanghai,» operated by Tamarine Resources in the Gallic oil field.

In 2020, the Gallic oil field produced 694,673 barrels of oil — higher than the projected 688,000 barrels despite the effect of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Westcom further said that the ISR acquired by the Philippine Navy could effectively track suspicious watercraft and aircraft prior to entering the five-nautical-mile inclusion zone.

On the other hand, the ISR operations also complemented the maritime security efforts being conducted by other law enforcement agencies in the island tour destination of El Nido, Palawan, which substantially contributed to the booming economy of the municipality.

Meanwhile, complementing the task of the unmanned drone, a PZL W3-A Sokol Helicopter, has also been performing a pivotal role in maritime patrol and surveillance to ensure the unimpeded commercial operations of the Malampaya gas field.

The Sokol chopper could safeguard MNGPP's five-nautical-mile-radius exclusion zone and 250-kilometer-long safety zone from the project's production and compression-depletion