THE Malampaya gas-to-power project “remains business as usual” and is still providing the government “hope for energy security in the medium and long term,” the head of Udenna Corp. said on Sunday.
“Udenna remains committed to the continued growth and development of Malampaya. We have a highly qualified team and have expended considerable time, expense, and resources to put ourselves in the position where we can step in to arrest the decline of Malampaya,” said Udenna President Raymundo Martin M. Escalona in a statement.
He issued the statement in response to what he said “misinformed comments and hasty conjectures from some quarters” about the Malampaya offshore gas project, of which a unit of Udenna is a consortium participant.
His statement came after Senator Sherwin T. Gatchalian earlier on Sunday expressed “grave concern” over the country’s power situation, citing reports that Udenna Chairman Dennis A. Uy is planning to sell “his controlling stakes” in the Malampaya project.
“With the expiration of Malampaya’s service contract in 2024, the depletion of the remaining reserves in the gas field by 2027, and now the possible sale of participating interests of Udenna in the country’s most important energy source — there’s so much uncertainty ahead of us insofar as our energy security is concerned. Are we looking at rotational brownouts again?” the lawmaker said.
Mr. Gatchalian, who heads the Senate energy panel, said he had proven himself right over what he called “apparent financial incapacity” of Udenna subsidiaries that acquired the 45% stake of Chevron Philippines, Ltd. and 45% stake of Shell Philippines Exploration B.V. (SPEx).
In December last year, state-led PNOC Exploration Corp., which owns the remaining 10% of the project, withheld its consent to the transaction between the project’s operator SPEx and Udenna unit Malampaya Energy XP Pte. Ltd.
Mr. Escalona, in his statement, said the senator “has frustrated these attempts over the past year. As a result, today as we speak all development activity on Malampaya is on hold and the field continues to decline impacting energy security of the country.”
He also said that Mr. Gatchalian “has single handedly crippled all the planned development of Malampaya and should be held accountable to the public.”
Mr. Gatchalian described the Malampaya gas field as a “critical energy asset” as it “powers more than four and a half million homes and businesses in Mega Manila alone or six out of every 10 customers in Meralco (Manila Electric Co.) franchise area. It contributes almost 20% of the entire country’s power generation mix.”
“Malampaya has also provided significant income to the government, totaling P290.76 billion from January 2002 until June 30, 2021,” he added. — Victor V. Saulon
