The Service Contract 38 (SC 38) Consortium, composed of Malampaya Joint Venture Partners Shell Philippines Exploration B.V. (SPEX), Chevron Malampaya LLC, and the Philippine National Oil Company Exploration Corporation (PNOC-EC), hosted an “Energy Breakfast” series last June 7, June 28, and June 29, at the Han and Tang Meeting Room of the Tower Club, at the Philamlife Tower in Makati City. The three breakfast engagements were attended by members of the Joint Chambers of Commerce (June 7), the European Chamber of Commerce (June 28), and the Makati Business Club and Management Association of the Philippines (June 29).
At the event, the business chambers had the opportunity to learn about updates on the Malampaya Deepwater Gas-to-Power Project’s investments, operations, and plans for its next stages of development. Presenters from the Malampaya JV partners were Chevron Malampaya LLC Asset Manager Sabino Santos, former SPEX Commercial Manager Martin Bates and Malampaya Asset Manager/SPEX Managing Director Sebastian Quiniones.
Santos presented an overview of the project, explaining the technology behind it and highlighting its benefits to the country. “We supply 40-45% of Luzon’s energy needs, which is a very critical aspect of the power supply. It has spurred a lot of energy independence being an indigenous resource. And since it is indigenous there is a government share and it is worth mentioning that $1 billion US dollars of revenue was presented to the government last year,” Santos said. Also mentioned in the presentation was Malampaya’s sustainable development work through the various health, environmental, educational, and charitable projects of the Malampaya Foundation, Inc., which have uplifted the lives of thousands of Filipinos through the years.
Former SPEX Commercial Manager Martin Bates (left) and Malampaya Asset Manager/SPEX Managing Director Baste Quiniones present Malampaya’s next Phases of development.
Quiniones and Bates presented on the project’s next stages of development known as Malampaya Phase 2 and 3 (MP2, MP3). Now on “Execute Phase” after achieving high ratings from a myriad of critical, independent, global-standard reviews, MP2 and MP3 will entail the building of additional deepwater production wells and a new offshore compression platform.
According to Bates, “It’s worth going back to the start of things because when we made the commitment to the Department of Energy for the field development, we submitted a very detailed plan for what we wanted to do with the field to assure the government that we were going to do enough to supply the customers with that 2,700 megawatts of power. Because I think we’re all clear about how Malampaya is actually relied upon. We feel that weight on our shoulders but also we rise to the challenge to make sure that we are reliable and we supply reliably.” Quiniones, for his part, emphasised that the progress towards the Project’s next phase development was the way of “sustaining that commitment.”
After the presentations, an Open Forum was held to give the guests a chance to ask questions regarding different aspects of the project.
(Left photo) Chevron’s Sabino Santos discussed the Malampaya Overview; (right photo) Engaging open forum with Guillermo Luz, Private Sector Co-Chairman of the National Competitiveness Council and Doris Magsaysay Ho, President and CEO of A. Magsaysay, Inc.
In December 2011, the Malampaya Deepwater Gas-to-Power Project celebrated 10 years of natural gas production from the Malampaya field. Prior to its development, electricity in Metro Manila was mostly supplied by power plants that relied on imported oil and coal. The milestone project pioneered the development of the natural gas industry in the Philippines and has positively impacted the environment by supplying clean natural gas harnessed from deep beneath the country’s waters. It benefits the country in terms of power, a clean source of energy, jobs, social projects, and government revenue. [SPEX Communications]
