Gov’t earns $1.1B from Malampaya stake

The government earned $1.1 billion in 2012 from its 10-percent stake in the Malampaya natural gas project through PNOC Exploration Corp.

PNOC-EC, along with project operator Shell Philippines Exploration BV (Spex) and joint-venture partner Chevron Malampaya LLC, on Friday turned over to the Department of Finance a symbolic check for the government’s share.

Spex managing director Sebastian Quiniones said in a statement that the consortium was proceeding with the project’s next two phases of development.

Malampaya Phase 2 entails the drilling of two additional production wells while Phase 3 involves the installation of a second platform that will house additional key equipment.

The production facility some 80 kilometers off Palawan is part of the larger Malampaya deep water gas-to-power project, which covers three power plant complexes in Batangas. The power plants account for a total installed capacity of 2,700 megawatts, which represent up to 45 percent of Luzon’s electricity needs.

According to the consortium, the next two phases of the project are expected to maximize the recovery of natural gas from the Malampaya reservoir aside from sustaining the level of gas production.

“We proceed with the project’s next phases of development with the same commitment to safety that we have lived by all these years,” Quiniones said.

While the Malampaya group can handle the drilling of wells such as those entailed by Phase 2, it has contracted for Phase 3 Texas-based Fluor Corp., which signed up in August 2011.

Malampaya’s third phase involves the installation of a depletion compression platform that is linked by a bridge to the existing one. The original platform, which at an installation weight of 11,500 tons and was built in Subic Bay, is said to be the largest integrated deck ever installed in the Asia-Pacific region.

Fluor has provided engineering services for and conducted a hazard and operability analysis on the existing platform. Fluor is responsible for the topsides and substructure of the new platform, which is expected to be completed in the latter part of 2015.