LNG

The Philippines aims to increase liquefied natural gas import capability through a joint venture formed by three of the largest Filipino power companies to acquire one of the nation’s two operating LNG import facilities as the economy grows.

First Gen Corp., the utility and energy group in the Philippines delivering the southeast Asian nation’s second floating LNG import terminal, concluded an international tender deal for an LNG commissioning cargo with Shell Eastern Trading.

June 23 (LNGJ) - The “BW Batangas”, the second floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) chartered for a company in the Philippines for an LNG import terminal, has arrived at Batangas Bay, according to shipping data, for an LNG import project with commercial start-up before September.

   The vessel with 162,500 cubic metres of capacity, the renamed “BW Paris”, has been chartered from BW LNG of Singapore by a venture led by Filipino power company First Gen Corp., which has also tendered for a commissioning cargo. The first Philippines floating LNG project started earlier in 2023 and is suppling another local power company SMC Global Power Holdings. This project involves the LNG floating storage unit “Ish” as part of a venture developed by Atlantic, Gulf & Pacific Company near Batangas Bay.

Energy World Corp, the Hong Kong-based and Australian-listed liquefied natural gas projects developer, said it had been given a Philippines permit to operate its LNG hub and terminal in Pagbilao in Quezon Province and would now complete some other facilities.

The company’s shares on the Australian Securities Exchange jumped 3.57 percent on January 2 on the news of the permit award from Manila.

EWC said the permit was handed over by the Secretary of Energy of the Philippines, Alfonso G. Cusi.

“The permit forms an update to the original permit documentation and provides for a further construction period of 24 months,” said EWC.

EWC explained that the permit would enable the start of operations of the first LNG storage tank to be aligned to the commercial start-up of the associated 650 megawatts gas-fired power plant and the completion of other facilities, including a second LNG tank.

“This permit demonstrates the continued strong support from the DOE for our LNG hub terminal at Pagbilao and will further enhance our program to bring affordable LNG to the Philippines for power generation, town gas and transportation,” said EWC founder and senior director Stewart Elliott.

Construction work at Pagbilao has seen the completion of the LNG terminal jetty and regasification infrastructure as well as one storage tank.

EWC is also building a small-scale liquefaction plant in Indonesia where it has a natural gas production-sharing contract.

The company's project involves a 315MW gas-fired power plant at Sengkang on the South Sulawesi coast of eastern Indonesia with an affiliated LNG production plant with output of 2 million tonnes per annum.

EWC is also expecting to be granted a 20-year extension to its Indonesian gas production-sharing contract.

UK-listed commodities and mining company Glencore is considering increasing its presence in the liquefied natural gas market beyond its trading activities by joining a floating LNG import and power project in the Philippines.

Energy World Corp., the owner of the first LNG import terminal in the Philippines at Pagbilao, has backed testimony to a Senate hearing in Manila that imported liquefied natural gas was the most economic source of fuel for the nation's electricity.