State-owned PNOC Exploration Corp. on Monday assured it will continue with the sale of the Malampaya banked gas to fund future energy projects of the government.
Newly-installed Philippine National Oil Co. president Reuben Lista, however, said the company was also studying other options aside from the sale.
“Of course, we are selling but we are also studying some options like using it for our new LNG power plants or as an equity for other joint power projects for energy,” Lista said.
Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi has asked PNOC to study the feasibility of putting up a liquefied natural gas power plant and terminal to jumpstart the country’s LNG industry.
Lista plans to bring PNOC back to its glory days in two years time. PNOC’s subsidiary, PNOC Exploration, owns a 10-percent stake in the Malampaya gas project in northwest Palawan.
The Energy Department earlier awarded to Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp., the country’s second biggest oil company, the partial volume of banked gas offered for sale by PNOC Exploration and Shell Philippines Exploration B.V.
Only Shell’s 110,000 barrels per day refinery qualified during the bidding.
“There was only one qualified bidder that meets the supplier’s criteria which is the PSPC refinery that has been awarded the partial volume. The utilization of the said gas volume by PSPC will start in 2018,” department records showed.
Sources said Shell utilizes natural gas for power consumption of its refinery. Shell is the sister company of Spex, which owns a 45-percent stake in the Malampaya gas-to-power project in Palawan.
Shell still had to bid out its banked gas after the government decided to offer its own through a public bidding.
Spex officials earlier said the banked gas sale last year drew “basement prices” amid the low global oil price environment
The invitation to prospective investors for the banked gas earlier stated that Shell, Chevron Malampaya LLC, PNOC Exploration Corp. and PNOC were jointly tendering their respective gas volume entitlements under service contract 38 in northwest Palawan.
The quantity of gas available is up to 227.995 petajoules and average daily quantity of up to 78.1 terajoules per day, available for delivery as early as January 1, 2016 and up to February 23, 2024.
The banked gas can fuel a natural gas plant with a capacity of 400 megawatts.