MANILA, Philippines — Oil giant Shell remains keen on pursuing opportunities in the Philippines even after giving up its interest in the Malampaya deep-water gas-to-power project.
Shell said the sale of its interest in Malampaya has no impact on other Shell businesses in the country.
“The Philippines remains an important country for Shell after over a century of successful operations,” the company said.
“Shell will continue to pursue opportunities in the Philippines where it can leverage its global expertise in line with its powering progress strategy,” it said.
The company announced yesterday that Shell Petroleum N.V. has completed the sale of its 100 percent shareholding in Shell Philippines Exploration B.V (SPEX) to Malampaya Energy XP Pte. Ltd. (MEXP), a subsidiary of Enrique Razon’s Prime Infrastructure Capital Inc.
The completion of the sale transfers control of SPEX from Shell to Prime Infra effective Nov. 1.
Shell said SPEX staff would continue their employment under the new ownership.
SPEX, under the ownership of Prime Infra, will continue to own a 45-percent operating interest and be the operator of the Malampaya gas field.
Other members of the Service Contract 38 consortium are UC38 LLC, a subsidiary of Udenna Corp., and state-run PNOC Exploration Corp. (PNOC EC), which own 45 percent and 10 percent participating interests.
“Since operations began in 2002, the Malampaya gas field has supplied an important part of the Philippines’ energy demand through the dedicated work of our partners and staff, past and present,” Shell’s upstream director Zoe Yujnovich said.
“This sale supports our strategy to create a resilient and competitive upstream portfolio,” Yujnovich said.
Shell Petroleum signed agreement to sell its interest in Malampaya in May 2021.
Last July, Prime Infra entered into a share purchase agreement acquiring MEXP, the legal entity which had previously signed an agreement with Shell to acquire SPEX.
The Malampaya project is one of the country’s most important power assets, as it produces natural gas to fuel plants in Batangas City that power up to 20 percent of Luzon’s total electricity requirements.
It began commercial operations in 2002, with the consortium’s license for the project set to expire in 2024.