First Gen confirms interest in “banked gas,” but Phoenix says otherwise

First Gen Corporation has confirmed its interest in purchasing the Philippine National Oil Company’s (PNOC) “banked gas” from the Malampaya gas field worth Php33 billion to Php38 billion.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, the Lopez-owned firm said it even formally expressed its interest in the fuel as early as 2016, “when a bidding was conducted by [Service Contract] 38, as again in its subsequent efforts to purchase the banked gas from PNOC.”

The “banked gas,” First Gen added, can be used for its natural gas-fired power plants. The firm’s San Gabriel, San Lorenzo, Santa Rita, and Avion plants, all in Batangas City, feed on fuel from Malampaya, the country’s only major source of indigenous natural gas.

First Gen, Dennis Uy’s Phoenix Petroleum, and government-owned Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corporation were initially reported to be interested in the “banked gas,” which was allotted for the Ilijan gas plant, but was not used.

In a separate disclosure, however, Phoenix said that the report was “unconfirmed,” adding that “[the company] has no knowledge of any interest to purchase banked gases as of date of writing.”

Udenna Corporation, Phoenix’s parent firm, recently secured control of the Malampaya project.