Shell open to LNG partnerships

ROYAL Dutch Shell Plc. is open to having equity partners for its liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal project in Batangas, said J. Scott Porter, senior business development manager of Shell Eastern Petroleum Pte Ltd.

“[It’s] currently a 100-percent Shell-owned terminal but I think we’re receptive depending on customer requirements and anyone that can bring value to the project,” Porter said during a forum.

The LNG import terminal, which is being developed as a floating storage regasification unit or FSRU, is in the final scoping and budgeting phase.

It can support 2,000 megawatts of power generation capacity through the Batangas-Manila (Batman 1) pipeline. Studies on the potential of gas resources in the Philippines show that by 2020, almost 5,000 megawatts of power may come from gas.

This, Porter said, would include those supplied by the Malampaya deep water gas-to-power project.

Malampaya provides almost half of Luzon’s power generation needs from clean natural gas.

Shell also sees potential for natural gas use in domestic road and marine transport, Porter said.

The energy giant is all set to develop the project, having obtained an environmental compliance certificate (ECC).

In 2012, Shell joint ventures supplied more than 35 percent of global LNG volumes.

Shell’s equity share of that was about 8 percent, Porter said.

LNG is natural gas which has cooled into a liquid state for easier storage and transportation.

Upon reaching its destination, LNG is regassified and can be distributed through pipelines as natural gas to target facilities.

The first LNG imports into the Philippines and Vietnam will likely push through within the decade as regional demand for fuel surges, Royal Dutch Shell EVP Maarten Wetselaar said earlier in Kuala Lumpur.

Shell has expressed optimism the terminal will prove viable despite concerns of delay on the connecting pipeline to be built by state-run Philippine National Oil Co.