The former general manager and managing director of Shell Philippines Exploration B.V. (SPEX) has joined a Razon-led firm that made an offer to be the new operator of the Malampaya gas field.
Prime Infrastructure Capital Inc. (Prime Infra) has appointed Sebastian C. Quiniones Jr. as the general manager of Prime Exploration Pte. Ltd. (Prime Exploration) effective August 17.
Prime Exploration signed last month a share purchase agreement acquiring MEXP Holding Pte. Ltd., which previously inked an agreement with Shell Petroleum N. V. (Shell) for the 45-percent stake of SPEX in the Malampaya project.
The acquisition is still subject to the consent of the PNOC Exploration Corp., which holds a 10-percent stake in the Malampaya consortium, and the Department of Energy. Once such consent is given and Prime Infra assumes full ownership and control of SPEX, Quiniones will work towards fulfilling the vision of Prime Infra of accelerating investments for the expansion of the Malampaya deep-water gas-to-power project.
Quiniones is no stranger to the industry, having served the same position from 2019 to 2016. He also held various key positions in Shell for the past 41 years. From 2013 to 2016, he was concurrently a member of the Board of Directors of Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp.
Prime Infra said Quiniones’ appointment bolsters its commitment to strengthen its talent capabilities in the upstream industry as it awaits regulatory consent to acquire the shares of the Malampaya operator.
“We are pleased to welcome Mr. Quiniones to the Prime Infra team. It is a reflection of our commitment to ensure that, upon receiving the necessary regulatory approvals and taking over SPEX, we will deliver outstanding operational performance and further the potential of the Service Contract.
With his deep industry expertise and unparalleled experience, I am confident that Mr. Quiniones will help ensure that a critical power asset is steered to further development and progress,” said Prime Infra President and CEO Guillaume Lucci.
The Malampaya project is one of the country’s most important power assets, as it produces natural gas to power plants in Batangas City that account for around 20 percent of the Philippines’s total electricity requirements. It began operations in 2001, with the consortium’s license for the project set to expire in 2024.
Operating since 2001, the Malampaya project is the only local producer of indigenous natural gas. It supplies fuel to around 40 percent of gas-fired plants in Luzon, powering around 3,457 megawatts (MW) of power plants that provide power supply to the Luzon grid.
“We believe that gas is an important transition fuel in the near-term, reducing the need for baseload fossil fuels like coal. Hence, we intend to accelerate investments on the Malampaya gas field to improve the output of existing wells and, if possible, develop new wells in the area once the license extension is secured from the government,” Prime Infra Chairman Enrique K. Razon Jr. said.
Prime Infra’s investment in the expansion of Malampaya operations will also be critical in providing the necessary infrastructure that would support the development of natural gas in the area, one of the key points defined in the administration’s energy agenda.
