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DOE eyes reopening of FPIC pipeline

December 07, 2010


By Amy R. Remo
Philippine Daily Inquirer
12/06/2010

To hasten the normalization of the fuel supply in Metro Manila, the Department of Energy (DOE) on Monday said it was eyeing the completion within the week of all tests being conducted to ensure the integrity of the oil pipeline owned and operated by the Lopez-owned First Philippine Industrial Corp. (FPIC).

Energy Undersecretary Jay Layug said in a briefing that the energy department also wanted to submit the tests results within the same period to the Supreme Court which had earlier ordered the pipeline to remain shut until its safety could be ensured.

“We don’t want this situation prolonged. We can’t have all these tankers plying the roads side by side with other vehicles,” Layug said.

He added that so far, tests in 12 of the 15 sites have come up negative which meant that there were no leaks found anywhere else along the 117-kilometer-long pipeline. Only three so-called critical areas in Calamba, Magallanes and Parañaque have yet to be tested, he said.

However, he declined to give a timeline for the reopening of the pipeline as the final decision would rest with the Supreme Court.

Layug also said that the prolonged closure of the pipeline had adversely affected Pilipinas Shell Corp. and Chevron, its main users.

He reported that as of last week, 42 Shell stations and seven Chevron gas stations had shut down due to the lack of petroleum products for sale.

With the closure of the pipeline since October 28, the two oil companies could only serve half of their customers due to the limited supply of fuel products.

The FPIC pipeline was shut down on October 28 after it was proven to be the source of the oil that had been leaking into the basement of the West Tower condominium in Barangay Bangkal, Makati City since July 12.

The condominium is located just a few meters away from a portion of the pipeline located in the city.

FPIC initially denied that it was the source of the leak although it was forced to issue a public apology after tests conducted by a task force created by the city government showed the pipeline as the culprit.

The pipeline transports fuel products from Batangas province to the Pandacan oil depots in Manila. With its shutdown, Shell and Chevron have resorted to using tankers, lorries and barges to bring its products to its gas stations in Metro Manila.

Layug earlier said that the pipeline’s prolonged closure was “unsustainable.”

“Over the long run, we cannot continue using tank trucks, lorries and barges. The cheapest and safest way would be to use the pipeline. As for supply, that can be addressed only if all the other oil companies will bring in the infrastructure needed like these barges. But it’s not good to have so many oil tankers plying the roads,” he stated.

Energy Secretary Jose Rene D. Almendras earlier stressed that the pipeline was still the safest, fastest and most environment-friendly way to deliver fuel from Batangas to Manila.

It supplies more than 50 percent of the petroleum products for Pandacan which delivers fuel to 459 stations in Metro Manila and about 1,800 gas stations from Regions 1 to 4.