MANILA, Philippines – MAYROON pang maraming potential gas fields ang Pilipinas na nananatiling “unexplored” para magbigay ng energy requirements ng bansa.
Sinabi ni Undersecretary Sandy Sales, Energy Resource Development and Oil Management ng DoE na ang oil at gas exploration ng bansa ay nananatiling bukas sa mga interested investors para i-tap ang mga nasabing potential power sources.
“Marami pang mga lugar, hindi lang po Malampaya, ang mayroong mga potential para sa malalaking gas deposit,” ayon kay Sales sa isang panayam.
Gayunman, sinabi ni Sales, nadidismaya ang mga potensiyal na mamumuhunan kapag nalalaman ng mga ito ang nakabinbin na kaso sa Korte Suprema kaugnay sa isyu ng income tax na may kinalaman sa Malampaya gas project.
“Ito iyong kaso ng income tax ng mga service contractor. Hanggang ngayon, hindi pa ito nare-resolve at nagiging malaking ‘overhang’ sa mga potential investors,” ayon kay Sales.
“The taxation issue of upstream petroleum investors spawned from an interpretation by the Commission on Audit (COA) that the income tax payment of the Malampaya consortium should not have been charged as part of the 60 percent royalty share of the Philippine government,” ayon sa ulat.
Ang consortium ay kasalukuyang binubuo ng Prime Energy Resources Development, UC38 LLC, at PNOC Exploration Corp.
Winika ni Sales na sumusuporta naman ang gobyerno sa upstream exploration at produksyon ng langis at gas sa kabila ng full commitment ng bansa sa “decarbonization.”
“The path to decarbonization ay hindi iisa. What works for other jurisdictions does not necessarily apply to the Philippines,” ayon kay Sales.
“Sa ibang lugar, sinasabi nila na kailangang isara ang coal plant. Iyon ang kanilang path. Pero sa atin, pareho tayo ng gustong puntahan pero iba ang ating tatahaking landas. Kasi iba ang sitwasyon natin. Kailangan nating ma-stabilize ang ating power supply,” dagdag na pahayag nito.
Kamakailan ay tinintahan ni Pangulong Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. ang renewal ng Service Contract (SC) No. 38 para sa the Malampaya Deep Water Gas-to-Power Project.
Sinabi ni Sales na “to produce the remaining gas reserve after 2024, the government has to sign the contract renewal for the said project.”
“It’s about 80 to 140 BCF (billion cubic feet) that would have been stranded if the contract was not renewed. In the renewal agreement, it is also required that the consortium conduct near field appraisal and development. This is to add reserves and increase the production of the Malampaya field,” ayon kay Sales.
“Initially, based on technical review, potentially there is an additional 210 BCF that can be developed close to the existing Malampaya field. So this would require drilling of wells and substantial subsea work to tie back the new production wells into the existing Malampaya production facilities. So this is a firm commitment as part of the renewal agreement,” ang winika ni Sales.
Samantala, sa pamamagitan ng Malampaya Project, nakikita na mababawasan ang pagsandal ng bansa sa oil imports at tiyakin ang mas maraming “stable supply” ng mas malinis na enerhiya mula sa isang indigenous source. RNT
