The Department of Energy is conducting a technical study on the reserves of the Malampaya gas project in northwest Palawan to enable the government to prepare for options in securing the country’s future power requirements, a ranking official said.
“I already asked for technical studies on what (natural gas) supply is left and how it can be extracted after the end of contract so we will know what options we have and how we can make it public,” Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi said.
The service contract for the Malampaya gas project, operated by the consortium of Shell Philippines Exploration B.V., Chevron Malampaya LLC, and PNOC Exploration Corp. is due to expire in 2024. The Malampaya project supplies power to five natural gas power plants in Batangas province with a capacity of over 3,000 megawatts.
Cusi said reports that Spex had expressed interest to become the operations and maintenance provider for the Malampaya if the government would not renew the contract was part of the options government was reviewing.