Lopez-controlled First Gas Power Corp. is seeking the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas' (BSP) go-signal for an $80 million loan from local banks.

The amount is higher than what was being considered earlier of only $50 million.

Last week, the BSP approved Philippine National Oil Corp.-Exploration Corp.'s own foreign currency deposit unit (FCDU) loan worth $9 million.

First Gas owns and operates the 1,000-megawatt Santa Rita combined-cycle natural gas-fired power plant in Batangas. Based on its website, the Santa Rita power plant uses natural gas from the Malampaya Gas Field in offshore Northwest Palawan.

Last year, the BSP reported that total FCDU loans decreased by almost nine percent at $4.95 billion compared to what was reported in 2008.

By borrower type, private loans were lower at the end of 2009 at $3.182 billion from $5.334 billion in 2008. Private FCDU loans are mainly availed by public utilities and exporters. Residents accounted for 69 percent total loan portfolio.

BSP noted decreases for both short-term and medium and long-term loans, although the maturity mix remained biased towards MLT loans, whose share to total portfolio remained at the 58 percent level. MLT accounts are those with original payment terms of more than one year, while ST loans have original tenors of up to one year.

FCDU deposit liabilities, on the other hand, increased by 1.4 percent to $22.6 billion by the end of 2009.