CLEAN POWER The Malampaya natural gas project supplies 20 percent of Luzon’s power needs. —FILE PHOTO
The Shell Group has formally bowed out of the Malampaya deep water gas-to-power project to Prime Infrastructure Capital Inc. of ports and gaming tycoon Enrique Razon Jr.
Shell Petroleum N.V. announced on Tuesday the completion of the sale of its 100 percent shareholding in Shell Philippines Exploration B.V. (SPEX) to Prime Infra subsidiary Malampaya Energy XP Pte Ltd (MEXP).
“This sale completion transfers control of SPEX from Shell to Prime Infra effective November 1, 2022,” said Shell in a statement.
The Malampaya project, located offshore Northwest Palawan, provides up to 20 percent of Luzon’s total electricity requirements.
It supplies natural gas to four power plants, namely the 1,000-megawatt (MW) Santa Rita, 500-MW San Lorenzo, 420-MW San Gabriel and 97-MW Avion—all located in Batangas province.
Electricity generated by these power facilities is then delivered to Metro Manila and adjacent areas.
The Department of Energy approved Shell’s divestment last month while the PNOC Exploration Corp. (PNOC-EC) had already consented to the deal.
With the transaction closed, Prime Infra has officially become a part of the Malampaya venture and operator of the natural gas platform.
It can be recalled that MEXP, a unit of Dennis Uy’s Udenna Corp., signed an accord with Shell to purchase SPEX’s participating stake in May last year. The transaction, however, faltered after PNOC-EC withheld its consent to the $460-million sale.
Prime Infra, via its subsidiary Prime Exploration Pte. Ltd., subsequently signed a share purchase agreement to purchase MEXP in July. INQ