Philex Petroleum eyes LNG power plant

MANILA, Philippines - Philex Petroleum Corp., the upstream oil and gas subsidiary of listed company Philex Mining Corp., is looking at investing in liquefied natural gas (LNG) as part of efforts to develop new sources of energy, its chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan said yesterday.

Pangilinan said the company is open to the possibility of developing an indigenous natural gas field or investing in an LNG power plant.

 “In relation to either an indigenous gas field out here in the Philippines or in relation to a power plant, the answer is yes because at some point, the projection as we speak is that Malampaya will eventually run out so the country has to invest in other sources to have gas in the form of LNG,” Pangilinan said.

The Malampaya natural gas field in offshore Palawan, discovered in 1991, will run out of gas in 2024, according to data from the Department of Energy.

It is a critical source of power in Luzon as it currently supplies natural gas to three power plants in Batangas with a total capacity of 2,700 megawatts, accounting for 40 percent of supply in Luzon.

According to data on the gas field, the Malampaya field has proven reserves of 2.7 to 3.2 trillion cubic feet, of which more than one TCF has already been consumed.

LNG, on the other hand, is natural gas that has been converted into liquid for ease of storage or transport.

With the expected depletion of gas at the Malampaya by 2024, numerous players  have already expressed interest in developing LNG terminals around the country.

Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp., for instance, wants to build an LNG regasification terminal beside its refinery in Batangas with an estimated cost of $1 billion while First Gen Corp., the power generation company of the Lopez Group, is also aiming to build the first LNG terminal in the country near its existing natural gas power plant in Batangas.

Pangilinan said that with Malampaya’s reserves running out, it is important to be able to discover other indigenous energy sources such as what the disputed Recto Bank can possibly offer.

“We got to plan for that. Otherwise, there will be gas plants will be stranded. That’s why SC 72 is of utmost strategic importance to the country,” he said.