MANILA, Philippines — The MVP Group, which previously bid for the Malampaya deep water gas-to-power project in offshore Palawan, is keeping a close watch on the country’s crown jewel amid the controversies surrounding the share sale to Dennis Uy’s Udenna Group.
MVP Group chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan said his group is waiting to see how the issue would be resolved, but stopped short of saying they’re interested in it amid the unresolved issues.
He maintained that Malampaya is an important energy asset for the country and that it could bring synergy to Service Contract 72 or the Recto Bank concession located in the West Philippine Sea, west of Palawan Island and southwest of the Malampaya gas field.
London-listed Forum Energy Plc., a unit of Pangilinan-led Philex Petroleum Corp. holds the license for SC 72.
“Malampaya’s reserves are dwindling. We don’t have updated information on the extent of the reserves, but a great deal of our issues has to do with our ability to develop indigenous sources. If we can develop our own oil and gas, we’re looking at substantial independence (from imported fuel),” Pangilinan said.
Uy’s Udenna acquired Chevron’s 45 percent stake in Malampaya, as well as Royal Dutch Shell’s 45 percent stake. PNOC-Exploration Corp. holds the remaining 10 percent.
However, various groups, including former Energy officials have questioned the deal, saying the Department of Energy’s approval of the sale was illegal.
Last week, the Senate recommended the filing of charges against Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi and other concerned individuals over the approval of the sale of a majority stake in the Malampaya gas field.
However, President Duterte defended Cusi and other Energy officials and vouched that Udenna’s acquisition of Chevron’s stake in the Malampaya project was aboveboard.
In a statement, Duterte said the “national interest has been protected and the rights of the government remain intact.”
He said the move of the Senate to recommend charges against Cusi and other officials of the DOE was “unfair to them and to the public.”
“I view with grave concern an apparent effort at the Senate to put in bad light recent developments involving the Malampaya gas field. This casts undue, undeserved, and unwarranted aspersion on the part of some of our key government officials. This is grossly unfair to them and to the public,” he said.