By Lawrence Agcaoili

The government has received P13 billion in royalty payments from the owners of the $4.5-billion Malampaya natural gas project, led by Shell Philippines Exploration BV and ChevronTexaco.

National Treasurer Roberto Tan told reporters yesterday that the Bureau of Treasury booked the amount last month, boosting government revenues for the month of December.

?The amount came as a surprise,? said Tan.

The treasury also booked P21.3 billion in proceeds from the sale of the government?s 40 percent stake in Petron Corp. to London-based Ashmore Group.

Finance Undersecretary Gil Beltran told reporters that the government ended up collecting more royalty payments from Malampaya after the expiration of a fixed gas-pricing formula agreed by the proponents and the sharp increase in world prices of the fuel.

Beltran said the Malampaya owners had recovered their initial capital cost, resulting in higher proceeds to the government. The law allows the government to receive 60 percent of total Malampaya revenues while members of the consortium get 40 percent.

The government collects royalties of up to 60 percent from power companies as natural gas and geothermal energy are part of the country?s natural resources.

Several power plants run on geothermal energy in areas such as Makiling-Banahaw, Bacon-Manito and Tiwi in Luzon; Leyte in the Visayas; and Mt. Apo in Mindanao.

The Finance Department has strongly opposed proposals to reduce the royalties that the government receives from geothermal and natural gas resources, saying it would result to huge revenue losses.

First Gas supported the calls for the removal of the royalties on natural gas in order to significantly lower the cost of electricity in the country.

The National Competitiveness Council, co-headed by Trade Secretary Peter Favila, has also pushed for the reduction of royalties collected from natural resources for a period of four years to reduce power costs and entice more investors.