The local unit of Marubeni Corp. has expressed interest in becoming a supplier of natural gas to the Philippines, once the government is able to put in place all the necessary infrastructure that will make such an undertaking feasible for the Japanese trading giant.
“The problem is that the Philippines doesn’t have any receiving facilities. Malampaya is providing gas to the (natural gas plants), but I heard Malampaya will expire and, maybe in the future, we will need to import natural gas from overseas,” said Takashi Ishigami, president and chief executive officer of Marubeni Philippines Corp.
Marubeni is now sourcing its natural gas from Qatar to supply facilities in Japan.
But according to Ishigami, the price of natural gas from Qatar is “very expensive.”
The company is now negotiating with the United States to secure natural gas from US suppliers, Ishigami said. Marubeni expects that once the local natural gas market matures, “the Philippines [can benefit] from cheaper prices [of natural gas] from the US.”
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