Philippine National Oil, Pertamina to study LNG import strategy
Philippine National Oil, Pertamina to study LNG import strategy
Dow Jones, Singapore
State Philippine National Oil Co. or PNOC, and Indonesia's state oil and gas company Pertamina, will form a working committee by end-November to review a possible plan for the Philippines to import liquefied natural gas, or LNG, from Indonesia.
According to a memorandum of understanding signed last week by PNOC President Thelmo Y. Cunanan and Pertamina's President and Chief Executive Baihaki Hakim, the two agreed that the committee will conduct a feasibility study regarding possible LNG imports and submit its report by April 2002, a Philippine Department of Energy official said Wednesday.
The MOU was signed during a state visit led by Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to Jakarta.
The official said it was too early to discuss import volumes and prices, and the details weren't included in the MOU.
PNOC is interested in importing LNG from Indonesia as part of its plan to expand the Philippine natural gas industry beyond use for power generation, according to the memorandum. PNOC is interested in developing gas consumption for downstream petrochemical use.
PNOC and Pertamina also agreed to hold talks on cooperation in energy-related projects in the Philippines and Indonesia - including oil and gas exploration and production, natural gas processing, geothermal energy development, natural gas marketing and investment.
The MOU, which is set to expire in two years, is part of the Philippine government's efforts to raise natural gas consumption and reduce its dependence on imported crude oil.
The Philippine government is likely to decide early next year whether or not to build an LNG receiving terminal in Bataan, Department of Energy Undersecretary Jocot de Dios said late last week.
The government has increased efforts to promote its nascent natural gas industry following the start of production at the Malampaya gas field, located offshore Palawan island.
Production from the Malampaya gas field began in late September, when the field's operator, Shell Philippines Exploration B.V., a unit of Royal Dutch/Shell Group (RD), delivered gas to the 1,000-megawatt Santa Rita power plant via an onshore pipeline.