Philippines Looking to Buy Iranian LNG

Philippines has expressed its readiness to import LNG from Iran as well as build an LNG plant in the middle eastern nation.

According to Mehr News Agency, these issues were discussed in Tehran during a meeting attended by Iranian Deputy Oil Minister for International Affairs Amir Hossein Zamaninia and the Philippine National Oil Company Exploration Corporation (PNOC-EC) President Pedro Aquino.

“The Asian country is eager to construct LNG facilities in Iran with a production capacity of 18 million tonne per year,” Zamaninia said. Philippines has suggested that Iran’s LNG production unit will be built by a consortium of PNOC and a European country, he added.

Energy landscape in Southeast Asia is undergoing a major shift as domestic demand continues to race ahead. According to International Energy Agency (IEA), as domestic natural gas demand outpaces indigenous production, intra-regional and intra-country trade increases, Southeast Asia will turn into a net gas importer of around 10 bcm by 2040, compared with net exports of 54 bcm in 2013.

IEA says electricity demand would almost triple by 2040, an increase greater than the current power output of Japan. Although coal still remains the dominant fuel, greater focus on pollution reduction will lead to demand growth in gas fired power plants.