Date: 22 September 2008
Time: 9:00 AM to 12:00 NN
Venue: MBC Room, AIM Conference Center Manila
RTD on the Future of the Philippine Natural Gas Industry: Nat Gas for Whom?
Very recently, the DOE gathered new data on the current available supply of bank and un-contracted natural gas. The Roundtable Discussion (RTD) on the Future of the Philippine natural gas industry aimed to bring to the table various comments and opinions on how this supply will be strategically utilized by answering two simple questions: Who should benefit from natural gas, the power or industrial/commercial/transportation sectors? Should natural gas reserves be utilized in the short- or long-term? The RTD brought together a panel of leaders, experts, and stakeholders involved in the supply and utilization of natural gas in the Philippines to respond to these questions. The panel discussed the costs and benefits of various options for the natural gas industry against the backdrop of technical, legal, and economic frameworks.
The RTD panel was composed of experts and stakeholders from the Department of Energy (DOE), other government agencies, private sector actors in the natural gas industry, individual experts, and the academe.
Prior to the RTD proper, a short presentation was delivered by the Department of Energy’s Natural Gas office lead by Dir. Jesus Tamang, head of the Energy Planning and Policy Bureau and the Natural Gas Office. The presentation discussed the current status of the natural gas industry and its prospects for the near- to medium-term future. The RTD proper was a scoping exercise on issues relevant to the policy directions for the natural gas industry. The output of the RTD was a run down of issues which the Department of Energy will process further through their planning arms and possibly other RTDs in the future in order to arrive with decisive policy directions.
The Asian Institute of Management Policy Center co-organized the RTD with the DOE and USAID’s Energy and Clean Air Project team.
