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Plans
are afoot to scuttle the projected bidding for the
so-called Camago-Malampaya Oil Leg (CMOL) as some
stakeholders in the Malampaya gas consortium are
expressing fears on the effects of any development of
the oil zone in the huge trillion-dollar gas reserve.
This is
the reason for the continued deferment of the bidding,
which should have been made a long time ago when the
first bidding procedure was scrapped.
The
Department of Energy (DOE) is so far playing coy in the
release of the terms of reference (TOR) for the expected
bidding for the CMOL due to the apprehensions on the
development of the oil zone.
The oil
zone, which is said to contain about 53 million barrels
of oil, is located in the bottom of the gas zone in the
deep waters off the coast of Palawan.
The DOE
is mandated to come up with the TOR after making sure
that the bidding procedure would conform with the letter
and intent of Executive Order 556 setting the “don’ts”
in the bidding for the CMOL.
Chief
among the concerns on the development of the oil zone is
technological expertise in the extraction of the oil
reserve. Any erratic foray of whatever mechanical probes
lowered down in deepwater could seriously undermine the
gas extraction procedure and even the gas field itself.
This is the reason why the Malampaya consortium of Shell
and Chevron should first preapprove any programmed
development in the oilfield.
It is
understandable for Shell and Chevron to guard against
any “misdevelopment” in the oil zone since the two have
to zealously protect the Camago-Malampaya gas reservoir.
This
reservoir means big bucks for the two gas and oil
companies as it supplies the gas requirements of two
power plants running on gas from where they get their
returns on their investments.
Not only
that, they also get to be reimbursed their development
costs, including a billion-peso scrubber supposed to
clean the gas of its impurities, but which is not being
used as the Malampaya gas, it turned out, is clean.
Agriculture department replies
The
Agriculture department, through Undersecretary Dennis
Araullo, came up with a rejoinder regarding our column
on the corn shortage situation in the country.
Mr.
Araullo pointed out the scenario between actual domestic
demand and the supply from both local produce and
imports. He said in a letter that the “Philippines is
not yet sufficient in yellow corn, which is the main
ingredient in animal feeds, and the Department of
Agriculture has launched its Ginintuang Masaganang Ani (GMA)-Corn
precisely to attain self-sufficiency in both white and
yellow corn over the next three years.
“In the
meantime, the government has been addressing the
situation by resorting to a combination of production
and import initiatives to ensure adequate supply,
especially for the livestock and poultry industries.
“Hence,
Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap was not—in Mr. Gagni’s
words—just ‘spinning’ when he reported adequate corn
stocks in the domestic market because the GMA-Corn
Program has actually raised corn yields to the point of
progressively pruning the gap between actual supply and
demand.
“To meet
the end-goal of doing away with imports and attaining
self-sufficiency in yellow corn by 2009 or 2010, the GMA-Corn
Program has focused on providing farmers with new
technology, more production inputs and post-harvest
facilities, and greater marketing assistance. There have
been initial successes in such DA efforts, as borne out
by the narrowing gap between the supply and demand for
yellow corn and the surplus level in white corn.
“Yellow
corn production grew 45 percent from 2.56 million metric
tons [MT] in 2003 to 3.72 million MT in 2006, while
demand went up 9.3 percent from 4.09 million MT to 4.47
million MT over the same period. With the production
leap from 2003 to 2006 as a result of the GMA program,
the demand-supply gap has been pared from 1.53 million
to just 750,000 tons.
“This
year, our goal is to produce 4.1 million tons of yellow
corn, or a yield jump of 385,000 MT, from various
special projects under the program. With total demand
projected at 4.6 million MT, the demand-supply gap is
expected to narrow further to only 500,000 MT.
“In
addition, we also expect to produce 2.8 million MT of
white corn this year. This will raise total corn
harvests by a tenth to 6.9 million MT from 6.08 million
MT in 2006, and will make the country 94-percent
self-sufficient in corn—82 percent in yellow corn and
121 percent in white corn.
“As Mr.
Gagni had mentioned in his column, farm-gate prices have
gone up to P11.50 to P12 a kilo, from last year’s P10
rate average. The upside here is that higher prices have
encouraged more farmers to plant corn, thereby leading
to much higher yields in the succeeding seasons.”
E-mail: hugagni@yahoo.com |
