State-owned Philippine National Oil Co., Phoenix Petroleum Philippines and CNOOC Gas and Power Group Co. Ltd. of China plans to break ground on the $2-billion liquefied natural gas project of Tanglawan Philippine LNG Inc. in May.
PNOC, Phoenix and CNOOC recently signed an agreement to put up an LNG re-gasification and receiving terminal with a capacity of 2.2 metric tons a year.
“We already issued the NTP (notice to proceed) for Tanglawan, and they are now partnering with PNOC. They are looking at having groundbreaking early part of May… because we want… (a) partial operation… by 2024 (as) substitute LNG… (for) Malampaya,” Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi said over the weekend.
The DoE has been pushing for the development of the LNG hub to secure the country’s power requirements in preparation for the eventual depletion of the Malampaya gas project in northwest Palawan starting in 2024.
The Malampaya field supplies fuel to five Batangas natural gas power plants with a combined capacity of 3,000 megawatts.