By Danessa Rivera (The
Philippine Star) | Updated December 13, 2016 - 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines -
State-run Philippine National Oil Co. (PNOC) is exploring several options for
the government’s unused Malampaya natural gas, more commonly known as banked
gas, its top official said.
PNOC president Reuben
Lista said the government’s share of banked gas will still be sold but the
state-run firm is looking at other options to use the fuel.
“Of course we are
selling but we are also studying some options like using it for our new LNG
power plants or as an equity for other joint projects for energy,” he said.
Energy Secretary
Alfonso Cusi announced earlier the government is eyeing to build a 200-megawatt
(MW) LNG plant in Batangas to provide an emergency source of power when the
Luzon grid loses supply due to plant outages.
The Malampaya project,
which supplies natural gas fuel to three major power plants in Luzon, is
expected to be depleted by 2024.
The banked gas—which
was paid by government for future use—is stored in the reservoir of the
Malampaya project and is owned by PNOC.
Originally, the
government designated the banked gas as reserves for future use, particularly
by the 1,200-MW Ilijan natural gas plant in Batangas, when the Malampaya gas
supply runs out.
However, the
government decided to sell the banked gas to power generation companies to
augment power supply and avoid electricity shortage.
Earlier this year,
PNOC, with its partner Shell Philippines Exploration B.V. (SPEX), partially
sold its banked gas through an auction, where Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp.
won the bidding.
PNOC has a 150-MW
banked gas, while SPEX’s banked gas also amounts to 150 MW.
PNOC, through
subsidiary PNOC-Exploration Corp., and SPEX are partners in the Malampaya deep
water gas-to-power project. Another partner in the project is Chevron Malampaya
LLC.
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