The Malampaya deep water gas-to-power project faces the prospects of non-renewal, even of getting shut down, with ongoing critical challenges plaguing the upstream oil and gas industry, a ranking Malampaya consortium official told a Senate panel yesterday.

In a Senate hearing yesterday, Shell Philippines Exploration B.V. (SPEX) managing director Sebastian Quiniones presented a list of challenges being faced not only by the Malampaya consortium but the whole industry.

He said these hurdles include the tax dispute with Commission on Audit (COA), the new effluent standards from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), and the legality of service contracts (SCs).

Read more here.