The Philippine National Oil Co. (PNOC) is eager to pursue the development of liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities in its property in Mabini, Batangas.
PNOC President Reuben Lista said the Mabini property is the most practical location to establish the government’s plans for LNG facilities because it is already developed.
“We will put up storage facilities there for the LNG because it is faster and we do not to develop any other infrastructure,” he said.
Lista added that planned facilities in the area include the 200-megawatt (MW) power plant and a floating storage and regasification units (FSRU).
PNOC is already in talks with three foreign partners for a possible government partnership.
However, these developments depend on Petron’s extension of its lease contract with PNOC. The lease contract will expire in August 2018. If renewed, PNOC will have to find an alternative location for its LNG projects, Lista said.
If Petron decides to not renew its contract, the company should start complying with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and Coast Guard rules of property clearing a year before the contract expires.
“When Petron clears it, we can just put in the [LNG facilities],” Lista said.
Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi earlier said that the government will produce an LNG terminal to assure power supply as the end of the Malampaya deepwater gas-to-power contract nears.
It will also supply emergency power when the Luzon grid loses supply because of plant outages.
PNOC’s property in Mabini – called Energy Supply Base (ESB) – is 19.22-hectare land, where 10.55 hectares are leased to the PNOC – Exploration Corp., 4.27 hectares are rented by Petron Corp. as a bulk plant, while 4.4 hectares are hilly/eroded areas.
DOE should come out with a long-term program for LNG so all LNG projects are coordinated. The Pagbilao LNG hub and CCGT power plant is now almost complete and this can supply 670MW to the Luzon grid. What is missing from the project to move forward and meet its completion target is the transmission line. This should be given high priority than this new PNOC LNG hub in Mabini Batangas. The Lopez group is also planning to install a new LNG regasification terminal to ensure supply of gas to their gas fired power plants is secured when Malamapya production tapers down. What DOE should do is coordinate all these projects and rationalize them considering long-term energy plan or direction. All these inefficiencies in implementing these various projects will manifest in our electric bill.