MANILA, Jan 19, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos said Monday that a "significant" discovery of natural gas had been made near the country's sole producing offshore site.

About 98 billion cubic feet (2.8 billion cubic metres) of natural gas has been found five kilometres (three miles) east of the Malampaya Field near the island of Palawan, Marcos said, or enough to provide power to 5.7 million homes for a year.

The Philippines has some of the region's highest energy costs and faces a looming crisis as the Malampaya gas field, which supplies about 40 percent of power to the archipelago's main island, Luzon, is expected to run dry within a few years.

The discovery, the first in more than a decade, suggested the potential to produce even more, Marcos said.

"This helps Malampaya's contribution and strengthens our domestic gas supply for many years to come. Initial testing showed that the well flowed at 60 million cubic feet per day," Marcos said in a statement.

The Philippines -- regularly affected by electricity outages -- relies on imported carbon-belching coal for more than half of its power generation.

In 2022, then president Rodrigo Duterte called a halt to oil and gas exploration in areas of the South China Sea disputed with China.

Beijing has ignored a 2016 international tribunal decision that declared its historical claim over most of the South China Sea to be without basis.