Malampaya operator Prime Energy Resources Development B.V. said Tuesday it created an advisory council composed of technical experts and key industry leaders to ensure the long-term success of its multi-year exploration and development programs.
Prime Energy said all concerned parties of the Malampaya deep water gas-to-power project, including the joint venture partners in the consortium and the Department of Energy, agreed that urgent action was needed to address the depleting supply of gas.
Natural gas supply from Malampaya is expected to reach near the technical minimum by 2025 or 2026.
“Backed by technical experts and specialist contractors from around the globe, Prime Energy is well-equipped to plan and execute viable projects to extract more gas from reservoirs in the Service Contract 38 area covering the Malampaya project and tie these to the existing operating assets,” Prime Energy said in a statement.
Prime Energy, a Prime Infrastructure Capital Inc. subsidiary, recently completed its acquisition of the 45-percent operating stake in Malampaya.
Prime Infra is Filipino businessman Enrique Razon Jr.’s infrastructure arm that focuses on building assets to support the most urgent sustainability priorities—energy, access to clean water, waste management and viable critical infrastructure.
The advisory council will provide technical expertise and assist the management team headed by Prime Energy general manager Sebastian Quiniones in crafting necessary structures for implementation and serve as a sounding board for fundamental actions such as engaging with authorities.
“The new advisory council initiated by Prime Energy for the Malampaya project will serve the purpose of providing strategic advice and technical guidance to support me and the Board in this critical time when the company’s exploration and development programs are about to commence to prolong the gas supply, which is becoming increasingly scarce,” Quiniones said.
The newly-formed advisory council has a significant amount of project and financial management expertise through members such as Cesar Buenaventura, the first Filipino president of Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp.
Buenaventura was instrumental in guiding the various oil majors to invest and develop the Malampaya project in the Philippines.
Another council member is Jose Ibazeta, Prime Metro Power director and industry leader who served as Power Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. president and chief executive from 2007 to 2010 and acting Secretary of the Department of Energy from January 2010 to May 30, 2010.
Rufino Bomasang, former Philippine National Oil Company-Exploration Corp. president and chief executive, is also part of the council.
Also part of the advisory council guiding Prime Energy is former Shell Project Manager for Malampaya Phase 2 and 3 Antoine Bliek.
Bliek is also a former Shell Majnoon project director in Iraq with over a decade of leadership experience in multi-billion upstream projects.
Jose Jerome Pascual III, former Shell Philippines Exploration B.V. finance director, former PSPC chief finance officer, chief risk officer, vice president for finance and treasurer, who has over 30 years of finance and business experience at Shell in both downstream and upstream operations in the Philippines, the Netherlands, Kazakhstan and Brunei is also part of the council.
The company said the success of the multi-year exploration and development programs of Prime Energy would be made possible through the full support of parent company Prime Infra, the newly-formed advisory council, the DOE and the Malampaya consortium partners.
The Prime Infra group will support Prime Energy in other areas, such as project financing, supply chain and logistics, human resources and government and external relations.
Prime Infra is well-positioned to continue the solid track record of Malampaya, recognized worldwide.
The company’s energy portfolio is aligned with the national government’s goal to attain energy independence and security while reducing the country’s dependence on fossil fuels.
Other developments in the company’s energy portfolio include renewables (solar and hydropower), sustainable fuels and a fully automated gas-fired power plant equipped with Iraq’s latest engines and control systems.
