Lawmakers back bill on natural gas development

MANILA, Philippines — Lawmakers have vowed to steward the passage of a bill that would set policy for the further development of Philippine natural gas.

The proposed Philippine Downstream Natural Gas Industry Development Act, being deliberated on by the Senate committee on energy chaired by Sen. Pia Cayetano, is seen as key to further exploration of natural gas for the country’s energy security.

At the committee hearing last Thursday, Cayetano stressed that the government has tagged natural gas, including those coming from the Malampaya field off Palawan province, as a transition fuel to full renewable energy.

“Malampaya gas is our only indigenous source of natural gas,” she said.

“It is important that we have policies that will support more exploration of natural gas because energy security depends on us having our own supply. We will be less dependent on international factors that affect the prices of our energy sources,” she said.

Cayetano recently toured the Malampaya Shallow Water Platform off Palawan, noting the impressive operations of the facility run by Filipinos. She said the visit opened her eyes to the need for further exploration of indigenous gas because it is key to the country’s energy security.

The Malampaya deepwater gas-to-power project is the country’s first and only indigenous gas resource. It supplies about 20 percent of Luzon’s electricity needs and has significantly contributed to the nation’s energy independence since 2001.

Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian, for his part, lauded Prime Energy’s commitment to further explore Philippine natural gas resources.

“This is the first time I’m seeing true exploration. There are as many paper explorations,” he said.

Gatchalian also said that there is a high chance of success that these projects, which are scheduled for next year, will push through.

“But I believe we now have a serious company, a serious player who will undertake actual drilling,” he said, referring to Prime Energy, a subsidiary of Razon-led Prime Infra and operator of Malampaya.