By:
Ronnel W. Domingo - 05:41 AM March 02, 2019
A venture between
Phoenix Petroleum Philippines Inc. and a China-owned firm has named the
Philippine National Oil Co. (PNOC) as a potential third partner for a planned
liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility in Batangas.
The agreement signed on
Feb. 28 also gives PNOC the opportunity to make an equity investment in Tanglawan
Philippine LNG Inc. as well as in other companies relating to the LNG project.
Tanglawan is the joint venture between Phoenix and China’s CNOOC Gas and Power
Group Co. Ltd.
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“We warmly welcome the potential addition of PNOC in the LNG hub project we
have been planning to venture on with CNOOC G&P,” Phoenix Petroleum chief
operating officer Henry Albert Fadullon said in a statement.
“The LNG hub is a
crucial project that will provide long-term solutions for our country’s energy
needs, and the strategic alliance among our companies will further secure the
continuous development of this venture,” Fadullon said.
Phoenix earlier said it
expected to break ground for an LNG regasification and receiving terminal
“within this year.”
The facility, intended
to have an initial storage capacity of 2.2 metric tons per year, is scheduled
to start commercial operations by 2023.
Phoenix and CNOOC also
plan to develop a gas-fired power generation facility with up to 2,000
megawatts of installed capacity.
“The project will help
support the demand for a clean, competitive and environment-friendly energy
source in Luzon, and provide energy security for the country,” Fadullon said.
PNOC has been the
front-runner in what is expected to be the replacement for the Malampaya
natural gas project, which is expected to run out of supply in the next several
years.
Various foreign
entities have asked PNOC for a stake in its own LNG project, but the state-run
firm had said it was now only interested in participating in a similar endeavor
at a maximum interest of 10 percent.
For Phoenix, partnering
with PNOC makes sense considering the state firm’s capabilities and assets in
terms of pipeline infrastructure and franchise, banked gas, etc.
Banked gas refers to
the unused fuel from the Malampaya project.
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