Holding company Undenna, through its subsidiary UC Malampaya, has completed the acquisition of Chevron Malampaya, which owns a 45% stake in the Malampaya natural gas project in the Philippines, with Shell (45%) and state-run Philippines National Oil Company (PNOC) (10%). Located in the South China Sea, the Malampaya natural gas project supplies gas to five power plants in Luzon island, with a combined capacity of 3.2 GW. The field is expected to be depleted within the next decade and the service contract covering the project will expire in 2024. However, partners are seeking to further develop it and have requested a contract extension.
After UC Malampaya signed an agreement to buy Chevron Malampaya, CNOOC Gas and Power of China and Udenna’s subsidiary Phoenix Petroleum Philippines suspended in December 2019 their plans to invest US$2bn in the Tanglawan LNG import hub project in the Philippines. Phoenix decided to reassess its gas venture and to submit a new concept for the project to the Department of Energy. The project was expected to be composed of a 2.2 Mt/year (3 bcm/year) LNG regasification terminal due to be commissioned by 2023 and would also have accommodated a 2,000 MW gas-fired power project developed by Phoenix.
Many LNG import terminals have been proposed to offset the planned depletion of the Malampaya gas field. Energy World Corp (EWC) is working on an LNG import terminal in Pagbilao, while First Gen and Tokyo Gas are considering developing an LNG import terminal.