12 foreign firms eyeing LNG facilities in PHL – Energy exec

An Energy official has bared plans by at least 12 foreign companies to build a liquefied natural gas (LNG) infrastructure in the Philippines. Energy Undersecretary Jose Layug said the companies planning to build an LNG infrastructure terminal, pipeline, or gas-fired power plant include the following:

• First Pacific Capital (Australia)
• ENN Energy Holdings (China)
• Synergy International (Hong Kong)
• Korean Western Power (Korea)
• BW Ventures (Nationality unspecified)
• Hyundai Merchant Marine (Korea);
• Energy World (Australia)
• PNOC (PHL)
• GN Power (PHL)
• First Gen Corp. (PHL)
• Abacus Consolidated Resources/ENI-Saipem (Italy) Layug said three Indian companies have also expressed interest in building an LNG facility in the Philippines. Government is now completing its master plan for natural gas through technical assistance by the Japan International Cooperation Agency and the World Bank, It should be finished this year, the undersecretary noted. “After we complete [the] plan and results are favorable, then we conduct public bidding [for] such infrastructures next year," Layug added. Earlier, Energy Secretary Jose Rene Almendras said the agency wants the program to kick off — soon — considering the number of major LNG developers interested in investing in the Philippines’ LNG industry. Last week, the Asian Development Bank told Asian nations to “to take radical steps" to increase efficiency and invest in renewable energy amid a “looming" crisis. — PE/VS, GMA News