Published
November 8, 2017, 10:01 PM By
Myrna M. Velasco
State-run Philippine
National Oil Company (PNOC) will no longer pursue the government-to-government
(GTG) deal on its planned $2.0 billion worth of investments on liquefied
natural gas (LNG) facilities, instead, it is opting now for the submission of
unsolicited proposals from interested investors.
According to PNOC
President Reuben S. Lista, the mandate he has gotten from the company’s board
will be to secure a viable unsolicited proposal at least until December 31 this
year, but if that will not turn out successful, the state-run company will
pursue competitive bidding next year on its prospective partner.
He explained that the
country’s hurdle on government-to-government deal is the lack of bilateral
discussions yet on such – at least between and among the relevant ministries of
the countries of the firms showing interest on the propounded LNG investments.
So far, interests had
been shown by prospective LNG investors from China, Japan, Russia, Singapore,
Spain and Middle East firms.
Lista further qualified
that not having discussions on this sphere at least on the “ministry level” of
these countries may eventually turn out a drag to the targeted timeline of the
LNG investments.
“If we will have
government-to-government investment arrangement and I get my go-signal for that
next year, we may only start negotiations by 2019, so we would be incurring
delays in the project,” he stressed.
The easier track the
company could work on for now, he said, would be inviting parties with
unsolicited proposals or a bidding process by next year.
He noted that the
company is working on a timeline set by Energy Secretary Alfonso G. Cusi,
entailing then that the LNG import terminal must already be on commercial
stream by year 2020.
“If we will go for
G-to-G, it will take long, so it’s all the more that we cannot beat the 2020
target. In fact, I already asked the Secretary (Cusi) to give me leverage until
2021,” he said.
Lista added the
state-run firm will be taking the LNG investments plunge, not necessarily to
compete with private sector players, but chiefly on the bid to help government
on its gas market reset.
“We are not competing
with the private sector, but this will not stop PNOC to continue in order to
expedite investments in the sector and to ensure that our banked gas will not
be stranded,” he stressed.
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