Prospects for development of natural gas in Philippines are good

The prospects are good for the development of natural gas in the Philippines as an alternative source of energy, a senior official said. Secretary Mario Tiaoqui of the DOE said: "Our oil reserves are rather low. But we have an abundant supply of natural gas."
Tiaoqui said that the government and some private firms are now developing natural gas as a new source of energy, and expect to start making full use of it by year 2001. "We can start harnessing our natural gas resource in 2001. It is now being developed, with pipelines being laid from Palawan to Batangas (in the south-western Philippines)," he said.
Earlier, President Joseph Estrada said that his administration is developing natural gas as a major energy source to substantially reduce the country's dependence on imported oil.
As of last year, Tiaoqui said, the country got 75 % of its energy production from oil. Thus, he said, the government is working to reduce its dependency on oil. "By the year 2004 we expect that to go down to 25 %," he said, adding the Philippines by that time would be using hydroelectric, coal and geothermal energy as well.