SECTORAL group Alyansa ng mga Grupong Haligi ng Agham at Teknolohiya para sa Mamamayan (AGHAM) today called for the immediate pursuance of more oil and gas explorations that will address looming threats to the country’s power supply deficiency.
The group, a party-list organization, through its president, Angelo Palmones, issued a statement on the issue, triggered by news of the Malampaya natural gas facility’s imminent depletion.
He noted the need to conduct more exploration activities and develop indigenous sources of fuel. “We call on the energy industry to aggressively look into this matter at hand. The economy is opening up as we are starting to adjust to a new normal, and records show that energy demand is likewise escalating, and is expected to surpass pre-pandemic levels. The Philippines is in desperate need of more fuel sources. We need more capacity in the grid now, not next year, not in the next two or three years, but now,” Palmones pointed out.
This pronouncement follows Senate Committee on Energy Chairman Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian’s account at the recently concluded forum by think tank Stratbase ADRI on “Ensuring Energy Supply Security for a Sustainable Economic Recovery”. Sen. Gatchalian said in the virtual townhall meeting that he received reports that the Malampaya gas facility’s depletion “will come sooner than later.”
“This is worrisome because as we know, Malampaya supplies (more or less) 20 percent of our requirements,” he added.
Previous reports indicated that producing wells in the Malampaya gas facility in Palawan will last another three to five years, and its contract is set to expire on December 2024. But in recent months, power plants sourcing from Malampaya have revealed that there is already a sustained supply constraint, and most have resorted to alternate and costlier liquid fuels to continue generating power.
Palmones also echoed the thoughts of the senator and the energy industry leaders present during the forum, who all rallied for exploration and production activities of indigenous sources to replace Malampaya. A report by Sen. Gatchalian during the forum that the country already lags behind other Asian countries in terms of explorations.
“It is imperative that we get our own sources so as to shield our consumers from volatile global fuel prices. We are very reliant on fuels from other countries, which is why international pricing adjustments have direct impact on our own prices. Such is the case that triggered the November rate price increase of electricity distributors and electric cooperatives,” said Palmones.
He likewise noted that the local upstream industry has been on a steady decline in terms of exploration activities, having been halted for years due to geo-politics. “That wasted time was crucial. Had we resolved these issues sooner there would have been substantial developments in terms of discovering new gas fields, especially since we know the depletion of Malampaya is imminent. Energy leaders need to put politics aside and put the needs of our countrymen first,” he said.
Energy security, Palmones says, should be prioritized, and a suite of fuel sources including new gas fields within the country’s economic zone, complementing indigenous energy sources such as hydro, geothermal, solar, coal, and renewables, will lead to it.