NEWS

By Victor V. Saulon

THE Department of Energy (DoE) continues to receive interest from foreign entities that are keen on participating in the government’s plan to put up a liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminal, an official of the agency said.

“There’s another US company that had a pre-application conference, New Fortress Energy,” DoE Assistant Secretary Leonido J. Pulido III told reporters last week.

The US company is the latest to have held a conference with the agency to express its plan to build an LNG facility, he said. He said a formal application has yet to be filed by the foreign entity.

He said those who had sought similar meetings with the DoE in the past were all interested in constructing the facility.

“We haven’t seen any proposal from them yet, it’s just a pre-application conference,” Mr. Pulido said, adding that the feedback from the DoE office in charge of the matter was “they will submit an application.”

In January, the DoE disclosed that Excelerate Energy L.P., a US-based company, joined the list of groups keen on building an LNG facility in the Philippines. The company filed its proposal on Dec. 27, 2018, the agency said.

Excelerate becomes the fourth company with an ambition to put up a facility ahead of the expected depletion of the Malampaya gas field, the country’s only natural gas fuel source.

The proposal of Excelerate is being evaluated by the DoE’s technical working group, which last looked into the application of First Gen Corp. and its Japanese partner Tokyo Gas Co., Ltd.

Ahead of Excelerate and First Gen’s LNG projects, the DoE office evaluated the application of two other proponents — the local unit of Australia’s Energy World Corp. Ltd., and the partnership between Phoenix Petroleum Philippines, Inc. and a unit of China National Offshore Oil Corp.

Mr. Pulido said Excelerate’s application has not been rejected, but continues to be on hold.

“They were asked to submit more documentation to substantiate their proposal. What was asked from them is to provide an after-market,” he said.

He said three weeks ago, the US company sent additional documents to the DoE, including a letter of intent between Excelerate and San Miguel Corp.’s Ilijan gas-fired plant.

“I don’t think they have a final agreement. It’s more of letter of intent slash MoU (memorandum of understanding). It’s still under evaluation,” he said.

The DoE previously issued a “notice to proceed” to both First Gen and Phoenix Petroleum. The latter sought for an extension for another six months.

Source: Business World