First Gen eyes Malampaya

MANILA, Philippines - First Gen Corp., the Lopez Group’s power generation company, has conveyed to the Department of Energy (DOE) that is it interested in vying for the massive stock of banked gas or unused Malampaya natural gas, Energy Secretary Carlos Jericho Petilla said over the weekend.

“We have talked about it. I told them (First Gen), when it’s offered, you come in and make your offer,” Petilla said.

Petilla said the government is likely to sell the banked gas next year when there are ready buyers such as First Gen, which is eyeing to expand its power plant portfolio in the next three years.

“It will be sold. I have a memorandum to that effect already but it will only be used for additional capacity,” Petilla said. 

The gas is stored in the reservoir of the Malampaya deep water-to-gas project and is owned by state-owned Philippine National Oil Co. (PNOC).

The government paid for the gas and reserved it for future use.

Petilla said the gas would be sold to power generation companies to augment power supply and avoid electricity shortage by 2015 when there would be tightness in supply as the economy grows.

Petilla said it would be used for additional capacity and not for existing power generation capacity.

“We are eyeing additional 100 MW,” Petilla said, adding that the sale of the gas would happen only at the end of 2014.

“That’s when we need it,” he noted.

In October, the Energy chief said PNOC and Malampaya operator Shell Philippines were studying the pricing scheme for the banked gas sale.