Gov’t mulls options for sale of unused Malampaya gas

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine government is re-exploring options for the sale of unused Malampaya gas called banked gas after several failed bids.

Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi has directed state-run Philippine National Oil Co. (PNOC) to conduct studies and submit recommendations on the banked gas.

“As DOE secretary and chairman (of PNOC), let’s look for the best option. So I required (PNOC) management to submit the recommendation, studies (to find out) what are the best options available,” Cusi said.

The state-run firm is selling its banked gas amounting to 97.67 petajoules.

The banked gas – which was paid by government for future use – is stored in the reservoir of the Malampaya deepwater gas-to-power project offshore Palawan owned by PNOC.

It was originally designated for the future requirements of the 1,200-megawatt (MW) Ilijan power plant and the five First Gen power plants with existing gas sales and purchase agreements (GSPAs), when the Malampaya service contract ends in 2024.

However, the government decided to sell the banked gas to power generation companies to augment power supply and avoid electricity shortage.

In April 2015, the government and Malampaya consortium – composed of Shell Philippines Exploration B.V. (SPEX), Chevron Malampaya LLC and PNOC-Exploration Corp. – announced the tendering of their respective gas volume entitlements under Service Contract 38.

The banked gas involves up to 227.995 petajoules and average daily quantity of up to 78.1 petajoules per day, available for delivery as of Jan. 1, 2016 and up to Feb. 23, 2024.