DOE: World Bank eyes funding for PHL natural gas

The Department of Energy on Tuesday said some multilateral financial institutions are looking at the prospects of funding the country’s liquefied natural gas facilities. The World Bank and other financial institutions are interested in providing funds for all natural gas facilities in the Philippines, Energy Secretary Jose Rene Almendras said in a statement. Almendras is hoping that Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), which is presently conducting technical studies of the natural gas industry, will be able to complete its report by September. “We’re hoping that the master plan for natural gas… will be finished by September," he said. “We hope to go to tender for Batangas’ LNG facilities towards the end of the year to early next year." The World Bank is conducting a separate technical study on the feasibility of natural gas projects in Mindanao, Almendras said. He said the government will bid out the Batangas-Manila gas pipeline project (BatMan-1) and the re-gasification and LNG receiving facilities The proposed 100-km BatMan-1 pipeline, estimated to cost around $100 million, is supposed to run from the Malampaya gas project in Batangas to Sucat in Parañaque. The government, however, wants it to run up to Quirino Highway using the “road right of ways," Almendras said. “I think the pipeline is half a billion dollars, the regas and receiving [facilities] is worth $700 million to $800 million. We’re going to get the best possible deal for the government," Almendras said. Almendras said the state-owned Philippine National Oil Co. can create a joint venture with the winning bidder because it owns the franchise for the pipeline. The International Finance Corp., the private sector investment arm of the World Bank group, has already expressed willingness to finance LNG projects in the country.—JE/JV, GMA News