Tokyo Gas interested in Philippines LNG market – Cusi

MANILA, Philippines - A number of Japanese firms have sounded off interest in investing in the country’s liquefied natural gas (LNG), particularly in the government’s plan to put up an LNG receiving terminal in Batangas.

Among the Japanese firms looking at the Philippines is Tokyo Gas, Japan’s largest natural gas utility, Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi said.

“PNOC (Philippine National Oil Co.) is studying putting up an LNG receiving station in Batangas. That’s where these Japanese investors are looking at,” he said.

The LNG terminal is aimed to meet the country’s requirements beyond the life of the Malampaya deep water gas-to-power project in offshore Palawan by 2024.

Currently, Malampaya provides 98 percent of its total production for power generation, supplying fuel to five natural gas plants in Batangas which have a total installed capacity of 3,211 megawatts and provide the electricity requirement of Luzon and the Visayas.

The LNG receiving station will also house a 200-MW LNG power plant to provide an emergency source of power when the Luzon grid loses supply due to plant outages.

The interest from Japanese investors was sparked after Cusi presented the country’s LNG roadmap in a conference in Japan last week.

In the conference, he urged investors to invest in the Philippines’ LNG importation, off-grid or missionary islands conversion to natural gas power plants and even non-power applications, such as in transportation.

Earlier, Osaka Gas Co. Ltd. — Japan’s second largest natural gas supplier — also firmed up its interest in investing in the Philippines during President Duterte’s trip to Japan in August. It said it is looking at putting up LNG plants in Luzon and Mindanao.