NEWS

MANILA, Philippines — The tandem of Phoenix Petroleum Philippines Inc. and China National Offshore Oil Corp. (CNOOC) has submitted a proposal to the government to build the country’s integrated liquefied natural gas (LNG) project.

On the sidelines of the ceremonial turnover of electric vehicles from Japan yesterday, Department of Energy Assistant Secretary Leonido Pulido said the proposal is under evaluation.

Last June, Phoenix and CNOOC Gas and Power Group Co. Ltd. entered into a memorandum of understanding to study and develop an integrated LNG project in the Philippines.

CNOOC is the largest offshore oil and gas company in China.

The partnership came after Phoenix, led by businessman Dennis Uy, said it was adding LNG to its portfolio amid the looming depletion of the Malampaya gas project.

LNG is natural gas that has been converted into liquid for ease of storage or transport. Phoenix is largely engaged in the trading of fuels and more recently, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG).

The consortium of Phoenix and CNOOC was among the firms that submitted letters of intent (LOI) to the DOE during the pre-application process, or the stage where the interested parties were clarifying the rules.

The DOE is looking to start constructing the country’s LNG hub by mid-2019 to safeguard against the anticipated contract expiration of the Malampaya gas facility by 2024.

The Malampaya project currently supplies fuel to five natural gas plants with a total installed capacity of 3,211 megawatts equivalent to

21.33 percent of the installed capacity of the Luzon grid and almost 15 percent of the country’s total installed capacity.

The LNG facility is also targeted to become an LNG hub for Asia, complementing those in Japan and Singapore.