IEA forecasts the Philippines may become the next LNG hub in...

IEA forecasts the Philippines may become the next LNG hub in ASEAN

April 5, 2015 - News Stories - no comments
By Juzel L. Danganan
MANILA, Apr 4 (PNA) – The Philippines may become the next Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) hub in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), according to the International Energy Agency (IEA).
In a special report called “The Asian Quest for LNG in a globalizing market”, the IEA forecasts the Philippines may become the next LNG hub with the ongoing construction by Energy World Corporation’s (EWC’s) 600 Megawatt (MW) LNG terminal in Pagbilao, Quezon – the first in the country.
EWC said that the gas turbine and generator had arrived in Pagbilao in October 2014, adding its two units, with a total capacity of 400 MW, were scheduled to be online during the summer months for Luzon.
Although the IEA cited four constraints in the growth of investments in the country, it also noted one positive trait of the Philippine energy market, which is also and only applied by Singapore in the whole of ASEAN.
“Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) market can become more competitive through these four constraints turned into opportunities for LNG in a globalizing market”, the IEA said.
The IEA mentioned the bottlenecks for the LNG growth in the Philippines as the hands-off government approach, separate transport and commercial activities, sufficient network capacity and Third Party Access (TPA) and the number of market participants.
The EWC, in a disclosures at the Australian bourse, also said there is no update yet for the project.
However, Ed Chua, the Country Chairman for Shell Companies in the Philippines, said he has called upon the Philippine government to enforce carbon pricing on coal plants, which will increase their present cheap costs.
Chua also said he had asked the Department of Energy (DOE) to implement LNG into the energy policy mix, but had not been able to come up with a plan until now.
For separate transport and commercial activities, the Philippines has no LNG facility yet, so the future may reveal whether this should be corrected or retained, the IEA said.
The same could be said for the sufficient network capacity and many market participants, it added.
The IEA stressed the Philippines has a sole and huge advantage to become a natural gas market with its price deregulation for energy. (PNA)