PNOC to shut down its San Antonio gas plant

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine National Oil Co.-Exploration Corp. (PNOC-EC) will retire its three-megawatt San Antonio gas plant in Isabela this summer due to declining gas pressure. "We’re just waiting for the gas pressure to drop to abandonment level," PNOC-EC Spokesman Edilbert Corsame on Monday said in an interview. He said gas pressure at the plant has been going down to a point where it could no longer sustain the threshold of a gas plant pressure requirement. The gas plant, located in Echague, Isabela is the first natural gas source in the country and provides electricity to 10,000 households. Last year, the San Antonio gas project produced a total of P324.8 million standard cubic feet (mmscf) of gas. To cope with the loss, PNOC-EC said that it would just bank on the 129,866-mmscf Malampaya gas field in Palawan to support the requirements of gas-fired power plants in Luzon. Mr. Corsame noted that although the plant is no longer viable, it can still be used as a source of adsorb natural gas, which may serve as fuel for tricycles in the area. "We are talking with third-party companies that are interested in the residual gas of the plants," Mr. Corsame said. The San Antonio gas plant was used by the PNOC to fuel the first demo buses that use compressed natural gas. - BusinessWorld