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Operators and Owners Sign Manifesto of Support on the
Government's Natural Gas Vehicle Program for Public
Transport |
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MEDIA
RELEASE
September
27, 2002, Philippines |
 
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 MALAMPAYA
PLATFORM, Palawan�President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo today
inspected the offshore platform of the Malampaya Deep Water
Gas to Power Project to stress the importance that her
administration is giving to projects aimed at making the
country self-sufficient in its energy requirements.
The President arrived here this morning from El Nido
by Heli-Canadian Air, the Malampaya chopper.
Among those who accompanied the President in her
brief inspection of the platform were Energy
Secretary Vicente Perez (left
photo), Trade
and Industry Secretary Manuel Roxas II, and former
AFP chief, retired Gen Roy Cimatu, now chairman of
the Middle East Preparedness Team (MEPT).
Cimatu�s inclusion in the inspection visit was
part of the preparations for his visit, starting
tomorrow, to the nine Middle East countries where he
will draw up a comprehensive contingency plan for
overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in case war erupts
in the region.
Before proceeding to El Nido on board the
presidential yacht, Ang Pangulo, the President on
Thursday opened the international surfing
competition in Siargao Island, Surigao del Norte and
keynoted the 2nd Mindanao Shippers Conference in
Iligan City.
The President and her party stayed for only about 30
minutes at the platform, after which they returned
to El Nido where she briefed the media about the
importance of the Malampaya project.
During the briefing, the President cited the
importance of the Malampaya project, especially with
the threat of war in the Middle East where the
Philippines gets the bulk of its oil requirements.
The President also said that the Malampaya project
is well secured.
She also said that her "One town, One Project,
One Mission Pesos" program will be implemented
in Palawan where small and medium enterprises (SMEs)
can apply for loans for their livelihood projects.
The Malampaya project, whose operation will span
decades, is an example of the Macapagal-Arroyo
administration�s long-term view of the country�s
prospects and capabilities.
Earlier, the President said that because of the
project, the country�s need for foreign oil and
gas and petroleum products would be lessened, adding
that the Philippines would have more protection,
especially with the impending new round of increase
in the price of crude oil brought about by the
threat of war in the Middle East.
The $5-billion Malampaya Deep Water Gas to Power
project, which the President inaugurated on Oct. 16,
2001, is the largest and most important investment
of its kind in the history of the Philippines.
 During
the inauguration of the facility in Tabangao,
Batangas City, the President said the project marks
the beginning of a whole new industry that will
provide clean and environment-friendly fuel to
Philippine industries.
The President said that with an expected $700
million in yearly savings as a result of the natural
gas project, the country is expected to earn at
least $13 million in royalties within its 20-year
period of operation.
The year-round production of oil and gas from the
Malampaya project in Palawan is one of the factors
that would help sustain the country�s economic
growth in 2002, according to President Gloria
Macapagal-Arroyo.
In her yearend report to the nation, the President
said that with gas production in Malampaya that
started in the middle of October, 2001 and oil
production that kicked off in December of the same
year, the Philippines is now 52 percent
self-sufficient in its energy requirements.
The inauguration of the project, held three and a
half years after the declaration of the commercial
quantity of gas in Malampaya in May 1998, marked the
birth of the Philippines' natural gas industry.
Prior to the launching of the Malampaya project, the
country was consuming up to $3 billion worth of
imported fuel every year.
The President said that the impact of the natural
gas project would be long and widely felt far beyond
the power and energy sector itself in the daily
lives of millions of Filipinos.
"Many of those Filipinos may have never heard
of Malampaya and maybe never will, because they are
far in the hinterlands. But they will be reached and
touched by the benefits of natural gas," she
said.
The President said that in order to achieve the goal
of enhancing natural gas utilization, it shall be
the policy of her administration to promote
activities in the downstream sector by offering
access for all land-based gas pipeline networks to
ensure the inflow of investments in this area.
Several Japanese, Filipino, European and Malaysian
companies have already signified their interest in
investing in a land-based gas pipeline network from
Batangas to Manila and eventually to Bataan |
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