Published June 7, 2017, 10:01 PM By Myrna M.
Velasco
The next big agenda for the
Philippine energy sector will be an envisioned hub for liquefied natural gas
(LNG) import facility, that will not only cater to the gas needs of the country
but also of the entire Southeast Asian region.
Energy Secretary Alfonso G. Cusi
laid this down in his speech during the ‘’GE: Powering the PH Forum,” in which
he noted that while it is a “grand dream”, the country could have advantages in
hosting such facility because of the Philippines’ strategic location.
“Our study became a little bigger
when we saw that the Philippines can be the LNG hub and we would want to give
it a shot,” the energy chief said.
He added that the Philippines
“already failed in a vision – being the hub for other industries despite our
geographical advantage and location – same thing that happened in maritime, so
this is probably an opportunity for us…it is a dream, but we are pushing for
it.”
Initial steps for the country’s gas
market reset, Cusi said, would be the development of a common LNG receiving and
distribution infrastructure as part of the “clean energy city” which is under
the tutelage of state-run Philippine National Oil Company,
In a roundtable media discussion
alongside the event, Senate Committee on Energy Chairman Sherwin T. Gatchalian
indicated that at the re-opening of Congressional session, they would be
working on legislative frameworks that will support the advancement of the
country’s gas industry post-Malampaya.
“We would be tackling various
legislative measures that will talk about LNG…and to hasten the development of
the LNG industry here in our country, we would really need to put the framework
in place,” the lawmaker stressed.
Focus of the proposed LNG or gas
industry legislation, according to Gatchalian, would be on regulation of key
components – such as the pipeline as well as the propounded import terminal.
“These are the things that I would
be working on with the DOE (Department of Energy) in terms of having the
framework in place,” the senator stressed.
Gatchalian emphasized there would
likely be high interest among investors, “but we really need to speed up the
industry itself…we need to give some development either through incentives and
other frameworks – and that calls for legislation.”
With the envisaged LNG hub or the
next round of gas infrastructure investments, Cusi noted that the wobbly
scenarios being experienced by the country during Malampaya shutdown could
already be rendered “a thing of the past.”
He admitted though that to
concretize the LNG hub dream, the department has a lot of ‘to-do items’ yet on
the roll – which the energy chief would be mandating his team and state-run
PNOC to work on.
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