Two more firms are seeking to build their own liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals in the country, according to the Department of Energy (DOE).
Based on a BusinessWorld report, Energy Asec. Leonido Pulido III did not give other details on the two applications, but said that the DOE is currently evaluating them.
Pulido added that the DOE has yet to receive applications for investors proposing LNG terminals in Visayas and Mindanao. The government is convincing more companies to invest in LNG opportunities in the country given Malampaya’s dwindling reserves.
Five firms have already been granted permits to develop LNG facilities. Texas-based Excelerate Energy L.P., Lucio Tan’s Batangas Clean Energy Inc., and Atlantic Gulf & Pacific Company of Manila, Inc.were issued with their respective Notices to Proceed. Meanwhile, Lopez-owned First Get Corporation and Energy World Gas Operations Philippines Inc. were issued Permits to Construct.
The said firms’ projects are all in Batangas, where the country’s five LNG power plants are located. All five plants feed on fuel from the Malampaya gas field in Palawan, the country’s major indigenous source of natural gas. Malampaya’s resources are expected to be depleted by 2027.
Pulido said one of the main criteria of the DOE in evaluating applications is financial viability of the projects.
He also added that although it is ideally the national government’s role to build the needed infrastructure, there were other priorities needed to be pursued. As a result, the construction of LNG structures became a private sector-driven initiative.
