The Department of Energy (DOE) has ordered the Atlantic, Gulf, and Pacific Company (AG&P) to submit a written justification for the deferred commercial operation date of its liquefied natural gas terminal (LNG) project in Batangas.
In a report by Manila Bulletin, AG&P told the DOE that the completion of the project will be moved to the end of the year due to developments in the international gas markets amid the Russia-Ukraine war, as well as the complications brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic.
DOE Oil Industry Management Bureau (OIMB) Director Atty. Rino Abad said that the AG&P executives have met with the department and informed them of the adjustments to the LNG project’s commercial commissioning, and were given orders to formally send a letter addressed to Energy Secretary Raphael Lotilla providing justifications on “why the original date was not complied with.”
AG&P’s LNG terminal project was originally slated for commercial operations by mid-year.
DOE also ordered AG&P to provide a list of its pending activities together with its timelines and justification as basis for the review and approval of the requested extension.
However, Abad stressed that AG&P does not need to apply for an extension for its project license, as its permit to construct, expand, rehabilitate and modify (PCERM) for downstream natural gas facilities is still valid until December 2022.
The five million tonnes per annum LNG facility, which is a project between AG&P and local unit Linseed Field Power Corporation, will serve the requirements of the 1,200-megawatt (MW) Ilijan natural gas power plant of San Miguel Corporation with the expectation that the Malampaya gas-to-power project will be depleted by 2027.
Apart from the Ilijan plant, PHLNG is also expected to service other SMC Global Power Holdings’ (SMCGP) plants like the 850-MW mid-merit plant expansion set for operations this year.
