The undersea region, called Benham Rise, will soon be officially under Philippine territory should the United Nations approve in 2012 the government's claim on a region off the coast of Isabela and Aurora.
According to Environment Secretary Ramon Jesus Paje, Benham Rise could turn the Philippines into a natural gas exporter because of the area's huge methane deposits.
The presence of large methane deposits in a solid form was confirmed by studies of DENR.
The government is only awaiting a formal declaration from the UN Convention of the Law of the Sea (Unclos) that Benham Rise is on the country's continental shelf and therefore part of its territory, Paje said.