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.