Vitol Group delivers second shipment of LNG for San Miguel’s 1,200-MW Ilijan plant in Batangas

By Alena Mae S. Flores

VITOL Group delivered the second liquefied natural gas cargo for San Miguel Global Power Holdings Corp.’s 1,200-megawatt Ilijan natural gas power plant in Batangas province.

The second LNG cargo was delivered to Atlantic Gulf & Pacific Philippines’ PHLNG—the first operational LNG terminal in the country.

Vitol Asia Pte. Ltd., a trading unit of Vitol Group, delivered the first LNG shipment of 137,000 billion cubic meters in April 2023.

“While this is the second cargo to be delivered by FSU Ish [the first was the

STS or ship to ship in Subic], this operation is novel as it is the first STS done while the FSU [floating storage unit] is docked alongside the PHLNG terminal,” said AG&P assistant vice president for commercial operations Sam Ligas.

“The operation showcases to the world the enhanced energy infrastructure in the country with the development and operation of specialized infrastructure such as PHLNG terminal and regasification facility,” Ligas said on his LinkedIn page.

San Miguel Global’s subsidiary South Premiere Power Corp. owns the Ilijan power plant, which resumed operations in May using LNG as fuel. The Ilijan plant stopped operations in June 2022 after its gas sale and purchase agreement with the Malampaya consortium ended.

The reintegration of the Ilijan power plant helped secure the Philippines’ power supply requirements as demand went up due on increased economic activity as the country emerged from the pandemic.

LNG is seen as “transition” fuel, enabling countries to move away from coal power responsibly, without compromising the continuing need of people and economies for affordable and reliable baseload power—while targeting wider adoption of renewable energy over the longer term.

First-half consolidated sales rose 13 percent year-on-year to P163.4 billion on higher revenue contribution from airline, food, and domestic property businesses.

Net income also improved to P5.4 billion in the second quarter from P44 million a year ago.

“The group’s earnings improvement further accelerated in 2Q with the sustained demand recovery and growth across our food, airline and property businesses. On top of this, initiatives across our business units to tackle cost inflation and implement efficiencies to recover our margins continue to bear fruit,” said JG Summit president and chief executive Lance Gokongwei.

He said to sustain the growth momentum in the second half, airline unit Cebu Air Inc. was working to augment capacity and improve operational resiliency by adding more planes while food manufacturing arm Universal Robina Corp. was addressing supply chain issues.

Robinsons Land Corp. is also working to improve its office and mall occupancy rates and carefully launching new project developments while its petrochemical business is ramping up operations after months of being shut down.

Rain or Shine must tame 6-11

Am-Taiwanese in Jones Cup

TAIPEI, Taiwan—Rain or Shine aims for a winning start to its grueling Jones Cup schedule when it tangles against the host

Chinese Taipei Team A which will be bannered by 6’11” American-Taiwanese Wialliam Artino on Saturday, Aug. 12.Game is set at 7:30 p.m. with the Elasto Painters hoping to pull the rug from under the Taiwanese national team which is expected to get a lot of boost from its home crowd.

More than that, the E-Painters are looking for a victory which could set the tone for their campaign especially that they are set to play six straight games in as many days.

First, the E-Painters must neutralize Artino and veterans Liu Cheng and Ying-Chun Chen if they are to hurdle their first assignment.

Rain or Shine, headed by Alternate Governor Edison Oribiana and Redmond Yu, immediately went to work at the Taipei Heping Gymnasium upon arriving in Taipei on Friday, Aug. 11.

“It’s always good to start it with a win especially against the home team. We know the odds are stacked against us but we just have to believe that we can win. If we have a good start we usually have a good ending,” said ROS deputy Caloy Garcia who facilitated the team’s first practice.

Expected to lead the way for ROS are imports Ange Kouame and Nick Evans, although the team will also be relying on the young core of Rey Nambatac, Shaun Ildefonso, Anton Asistio, Santi Santillan and Andrei Caracut.