First Gen keen on banked gas from Malampaya field

Business Mirror

08 Dec 2013 

 

Written by Lenie Lectura

LOPEZ-LED First Gen Corp., according to the Department of Energy (DOE), is interested to utilize the banked gas from the Malampaya gas field. The unused natural gas from the Malampaya field, known as banked gas, is owned by the government through the Philippine National Oil Co. (PNOC) and is stored for future use. Energy Secretary Carlos Jericho L. Petilla said the DOE and First Gen have discussed this possibility.

“I told [First Gen] that when [the banked gas] is offered they should come in and make an offer because they are interested. By the time the banked gas is sold, they are the only one interested,” Petilla said.

First Gen plans to utilize the banked gas to fuel its new natural-gas power plant in Batangas.

“The First Gen plant will come in by the end of 2014, so the banked gas will be used there. I have a memorandum to that effect that it will only be used for additional capacity,” Petilla said.

The Santa Rita and San Lorenzo natural gas-fired power plants, which are both owned by First Gen, sources natural gas from the Malampaya gas field in northwest Palawan.

The DOE will draft the guidelines for the sale or disposal of the banked gas.   source