The Department of Energy and the University of the Philippines Statistical Center Research Foundation, Inc. have signed an agreement for the second phase of the Gas Policy Development Project (GPDP).
Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi said the renewed partnership is expected to provide capacity building, research activities and policy development to boost the country’s natural gas sector.
There are currently seven active proponents for a liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal in the country.
“We would like to see a thriving LNG industry, one where we will have been able to expand our supply source, develop the market to go beyond power generation, establish critical infrastructure capable of delivering gas to demand centers and one where we will have been able to pursue public-private partnerships to support our natural gas goals,” Cusi said in a statement.
The first phase of GPDP was implemented from September 2018 to January 2020 and provided technical assistance to the DOE in the implementation of the Philippine Downstream Natural Gas Regulation.
“We were able to craft an investor’s guide, financial and technical recommendations for review of applications and the research study on market profiling with emphasis on the use of liquefied natural gas to power economic zones,” Cusi said.
Meanwhile, as part of the newly signed agreement for the second phase of GPDP, the Natural Gas Industry Roadmap will also be updated,
Companies currently in the middle of developing LNG terminals in the country include FGEN LNG Corp. with its partner Tokyo Gas Co.; Excelerate Energy with Topline Energy and Power Development Corp.; Batangas Clean Energy Inc. with LCT Energy and Resources Inc.; Energy World Gas Operations Philippines Inc.; AG&P Co. of Manila Inc. with Osaka Gas Co. Ltd.; Shell Energy Philippines Inc.; and Vires Energy Corp.
Notably, all proposed projects are located in Batangas except for Energy World which is being developed in Quezon Province.
