SUBIC, ZAMBALES — A “Strike Steel” ceremony was held by the Malampaya Joint Venture Partners to commemorate the start of construction of the substructure and topside modules of the Depletion Compression Platform (DCP) at the Keppel Subic Shipyard in this municipality Friday morning.
A joint undertaking between the Philippine national government and the private sector, the technologically innovative Malampaya Deep Water Gas-to-Power Project is spearheaded by the Philippine Department of Energy, and developed and operated by Shell Philippines Exploration BV on behalf of Joint Venture Partners Chevron Malampaya LLC and the Philippine National Oil Company-Exploration Corportion (PNOC-EC).
Guest of honors during the event were Atty. Josefina Patricia M. Asirit, Department of Energy Undersecretary and Mr. VP Hirubalan, Singapore Ambassador to the Philippines.
The event highlighted the traditional “Strike Steel” ceremony, with the guest of honors activating a computer numerical cutting (CNC) machine to cut the symbolic first sheet of metal of the MP3 DCP.
Assisting DOE Undersecretary Asirit were top management representatives from Malampaya Joint Venture partners and Keppel Subic Shipyard executives.
The Malampaya project is one of the largest and most significant industrial endeavors in Philippine history, heralding the birth of the natural gas industry in the country.
Natural gas from Malampaya fuels three power stations with combined capacity of 2,700 megawatts to meet 40-45% of Luzon’s power generation requirements, reduce oil imports, provide a stable supply of energy and a cleaner source of power.
Malampaya Phase 3, together with Phase 2, aims to maintin the level of gas production to fulfill commitments under existing gas sales agreements, thus ensuring the stedy supply of natural gas to power the Luzon electricity grid.
This project of the Keppel Subic Shipyard will increase the number of local employment, bring technical expertise into the country, and build up Keppel Subic Shipyard for future complex fabrication projects.
Natural gas is considered the fuel for sustainable growth and development, helping to meet the world’s future energy needs as the cleanest-burning fossil fuel with a globally abundant and diverse supply.
