March 11, 2019 | 12:06 am
PHOENIX PETROLEUM Philippines, Inc.
and the state firms of China and the Philippines are set to launch by May 13
the liquefied natural gas (LNG) hub project that they plan to jointly develop
to serve the requirements of the country, government officials said.
“They are looking at having a
ground-breaking early part of May.
Hinahabol natin ’yung two-year na magkaroon ng partial operation para
by 2024 there is already a substitute for LNG in case wala na ’yung
Malampaya,” Department of Energy (DoE) Secretary Alfonso G. Cusi told reporters
last week.
The target launch date comes after
Phoenix Petroleum, China’s CNOOC Gas and Power Group Co. Ltd. (CNOOC G&P)
and Philippine National Oil Co. (PNOC) signed a memorandum of understanding
(MoU) on Feb. 28 to jointly explore business opportunities related to the
project.
“The group is being encouraged to sana
— it’s a dream, I hope we can do it — sana bago mag May 13 makapag-groundbreaking
kami,” said PNOC President and Chief Executive Officer Reuben S. Lista
last week.
The MoU signing, which came after a
series of engagement talks among the three parties, will allow them to explore
and discuss business opportunities and cooperation in relation to the equity
investment in Tanglawan Philippine LNG, Inc., the project entity for the LNG
project.
“The three parties will be
discussing the business and commercial sharing,” said Mr. Cusi, who chairs
PNOC. “Ang DoE, hindi na kami makikialam do’n (The DoE will not
meddle).
Phoenix Petroleum previously said
that the LNG hub project would break ground through its regasification and
receiving terminal with a capacity of 2.2 metric tons per annum within the
year. Commercial operations is targeted to start by 2023.
The facility is aimed at supporting
the demand for a clean, competitive, and environment-friendly energy source in
Luzon, and provide energy security for the country. It also plans to include
the development of a gas-fired power generation facility.
“We have already issued the NTP
(notice to proceed) for Tanglawan-CNOOC, and they are now partnering with
PNOC,” Mr Cusi said.
“Ang pinag-uusapan pa lang namin
’yung LNG. Hindi pa namin pinag-uusapan ’yung banked gas,” Mr. Lista
said.
He said the talks on the banked gas
was just mentioned in passing in relation to the plan of Phoenix Petroleum to
build a gas-fired power plant that is integral to the LNG hub project.
“It’s still part of the
negotiation,” he said, adding that Phoenix Petroleum was the one making a study
whether it would buy the banked gas. — Victor V. Saulon
No comments:
Post a Comment