Cusi: Dennis Uy’s Malampaya transaction not midnight deal; beyond DOE’s purview

Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi on Monday denied that the buy-in of Dennis Uy’s business into the Malampaya consortium was a midnight deal, as it said the transaction is beyond the department’s purview.

Cusi reiterated that the Department of Energy (DOE) was hands off when Uy’s UC Malampaya Philippines Ptd. Ltd. (UC MPPL) bought out the 45% stake of Chevron Philippines Inc.’s UC38 LLC in the Malampaya Consortium.

Aside from Dennis Uy’s group, the Malampaya Consortium is 45% owned by Shell Philippines Exploration B.V. (SPEX), and 10% by state-owned Philippine National Oil Co. (PNOC).

“It’s beyond our purview. Ang tinitignan lang namin, tinitignan namin ang libro ng Chevron, tinignan namin ang libro ng new owner, and they pumped in that additional money, so in effect, ang Chevron Malampaya mas tumatag as member of the consortium,” he said in an interview on ANC television.

“In fact, hindi kami duty bound. We are not duty bound to look at the books of the buyer kasi hindi naman kami ang nagbebenta. When they came in, hindi nagbago ang personality, the personality of that corporation remained the same,” he added.

[It’s beyond our purview. What we are looking at are the books of Chevron, the books of the new owner, and they pumped in that additional money so in effect, Chevron Malampaya was a more stable member of the consortium.

In fact, we are not duty bound to look at the books of the buyer because we are not the one selling. When they came in, the personality of the corporation remained the same.]

To recall, Uy’s Malampaya Philippines Pte. Ltd. last year completed the buy out of the Chevron Philippines stake in the has field in offshore Palawan. It has since been renamed to UC MPPL.

During a Senate investigation last week, Senate Committee on Energy Chairman Sherwin Gatchalian released a document submitted by the DOE that UC MPPL’s available working capital was -$137.156 million, with a bank balance of $39.170 million.

This compares with the working capital requirement of $64 million in 2020, and $73 million in 2021.

“Hindi nga po midnight deal ‘yun. We are evaluating two books. The book of Chevron Malampaya, the previous owner, we are evaluating that. Nung pumasok ang new owner, the books remained the same,” said Cusi.

[That is not a midnight deal. We are evaluating two books. The books of Chevron Malampaya, the previous owner, we are evaluating that. When the new owner came in, the books remained the same.]

Cusi was asked about the possibility of a midnight deal, as he also serves as an official of the PDP-Laban Party which supports President Rodrigo Duterte.

Dennis Uy was one of the President’s top contributors during the 2016 campaign with P30 million of contributions, while his wife Cherylyn contributed P1 million, based on GMA Research. — RSJ, GMA News