(Bloomberg) -- Royal Dutch Shell Plc plans to sell its stake in the Philippines' Malampaya gas-to-power project, which supplies at least one-fifth of the Southeast Asian nation's electricity requirement, Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi said.
The company is looking for a buyer of its 45% stake in the venture, Cusi said in a mobile phone response to questions about the move, which was reported earlier by the Manila Bulletin.
The sale process comes as the Malampaya natural gas field at the heart of the project is nearing depletion and new resources have yet to be found, helping spur the nation's turn toward importing liquefied natural gas.
San Miguel Corp., the southeast Asian nation's largest company by revenue, is interested in the stake, President Ramon Ang said in a mobile-phone message, without elaborating.
A Shell spokesman said the company is “exploring its options with a view to divest its interest” in the project “as part of an ongoing portfolio rationalization to simplify and increase the resilience” of its business.
The Malampaya project contract expires in 2024. Earlier this year, a unit of Chevron Corp. completed the sale of its 45% stake in Malampaya to Udenna Corp.
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