Fast-tracking liquefied natural gas (LNG) is one way to ensure energy security: Maniego

The Energy Lawyers Association of the Philippines (ELAP)’s chairman suggests power industry stakeholders move forward with the suspension of exploration ventures in the West Philippine Sea.

Atty. Pedro Maniego states in ‘Ensuring Energy Security for Tomorrow’, a webinar held by the European Chamber of Commerce in the Philippines, “We must accept that we might not be able to explore the West Philippine Sea and then move forward based on that assumption,”

PXP Energy Corp. was advised by the Department of Energy (DOE) to halt all Service Contracts 72 and 75’s exploration activities until the necessary clearance to proceed from the Security, Justice, and Peace Coordinating Cluster has been issued.

“I think it will take a long time to resolve the West Philippine Sea considering the hard stance of the Chinese government that the area belongs to them. What we need is to accept that probably we will not be able to drill there for a long time and accelerate LNG terminals because we need them. If we cannot have our own supply, we need to import [liquefied natural gas] LNG and how do you store them? You need the LNG terminals,” Maniego says.

He, later on, says that one way to do this is to fast-track the development of liquefied natural gas (LNG). “There are already some applications for that but these are delayed and they are not moving fast enough because the projection is by 2024 or 2025 we will run out of Malampaya gas. Also, 2024 is the end of the agreement and it is already 2022. That is only two years from now and it takes a long time to build a terminal,” Maniego adds.

Three LNG terminals are aimed to be starting their operations this year, according to the Department of Energy (DOE). Included in these are the First Gen Corp. and partner Tokyo Gas’s Batangas LNG, Energy World Corp.’s Pagbilao LNG terminal, and Atlantic Gulf & Pacific (AG&P)’s Philippines LNG terminal.

Malampaya field’s gas previously experienced gas restriction last 2021 and in early 2022, and is expected to be depleted of gas by 2027. Meanwhile, Malampaya’s gas contract currently held by a consortium expires in 2024.

Source: BusinessMirror