Phoenix Petroleum pilots gas project in Balesin

MANILA, Philippines — Dennis Uy-led Phoenix Petroleum Philippines Inc. is powering up the luxury island resort of Balesin in Quezon province.

In a disclosure to the stock exchange, the company said three units of gas generators, each of which has a maximum capacity of 350 kilowatts, are providing baseload energy to the exclusive resort since Aug. 31. The generator sets are installed as a “cleaner” power source for the tourist destination. 

“With Balesin’s gradual return to full operations from the current community quarantine measures, the pilot run will effectively provide cleaner power to the entire island resort,” Henry Bong Fadullon, company president, said.

On the part of Phoenix Petroleum, the latest investments were part of the firm’s bid to diversify its energy mix, which has been highly concentrated in oil. The company has over 650 oil retail outlets nationwide.

The Balesin power venture serves as a litmus test for the initial partnership between Phoenix Pilipinas Gas and Power Inc. (Phoenix Gas), a subsidiary, and US-based Mesa Natural Gas Solutions LLC late last year. The three generator sets arrived from the US last June, just when the economy was coming out of pandemic-induced lockdowns. 

Each set uses propane rich liquefied petroleum gas, said to be a cleaner power alternative. The generators can also run using raw wellhead gas, liquefied natural gas (LNG) and compressed natural gas.

Once the pilot test in Balesin produces positive results, Fadullon said Phoenix Gas sees a large market for the “gensets,” especially among independent power producers and electric cooperatives.

“The aim is to ultimately replicate such solutions later on in industries that are generating and using their own power in the fields of manufacturing, hospitality & leisure, construction, telecommunications, and mining,” he said.

At the height of lockdowns in the second quarter that halted public transport, Phoenix Petroleum incurred a net loss of P5 million, albeit narrower than P386 million losses in preceding 3 months.

On Friday, shares in Phoenix Petroleum rose 0.18% to end the week at P10.98 apiece on the stock exchange.