DOE warned anew: Make public the review of Malampaya stake sale to Udenna

The Department of Energy (DOE) should make public its process of validating the Udenna group’s acquisition of another 45-percent operating stake in the Malampaya natural gas project, Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian reiterated on Friday.

Gatchalian had admonished the DOE in April, saying the department should justify its decision should it authorize the transaction between Davao City-based businessman Dennis Uy and petroleum giant Shell.

The lawmaker had also called out the DOE for granting clearance to the Udenna group’s earlier acquisition of a separate 45-percent stake in Malampaya from Chevron, another petroleum giant.

In both cases, Gatchalian said the DOE had not responded to his requests.

Udenna had set up subsidiaries to acquire Shell’s and Chevron’s respective shareholdings in Malampaya. With Udenna cornering a total of 90-percent interest in the project, the remaining 10 percent is still held by the government through PNOC Exploration Corp.

In the case of the Shell stake, Udenna said it would maintain the same team that helped in the operations of Malampaya.

“What are the sets of criteria that they will use in evaluating this transaction? It has to be very clear to the public,” said Gatchalian, who chairs the Senate energy committee.

“This is no ordinary asset. Malampaya gas project powers about one in every five homes in Luzon,” he said. “It’s important that we keep our lights on, that we have a constant supply of gas and in order to do that, we need to have very [technically] competent and financially strong operators.” INQ