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By Euan Paulo C. Añonuevo, Reporter
AGROUP of European investors is
keen on establishing a receiving terminal in Pulilan, Bulacan, as an
alternative to the oil depot in Pandacan, according to a
high-ranking source from Philippine National Oil Co. (PNOC).
The source said PNOC has received
offers for a $200-million 45-kilometer petroleum pipeline project
that would link Petron Corp.’s refinery in Limay, Bataan, to the
Bulacan property.
“The proposed facility will be
directly beneficial for Petron as it can directly pump its products
from Limay to Pulilan, but other locators in Pandacan like Shell and
Caltex could also use the facility if they like,” the official
said.
The project would be funded
entirely by the European group, which already set up a buffer zone
in the 64-hectare property just off the North Luzon Expressway.
The source said the group will
give free equity in exchange for the partnership with PNOC to lay
down the pipelines. At present, only PNOC and First Gen Corp. have a
Congressional franchise to put up pipeline facilities.
The official said that if all
goes well with the necessary permits the project can be completed in
less than two years.
He added that Bulacan’s
proximity to Manila makes it a viable site for the Pandacan oil
depot, which is set to be shuttered following a Supreme Court
decision closing down the facility.
Energy Secretary Raphael P.M.
Lotilla earlier said that any alternative site for the depot would
have to secure the consent of the national government and the
concerned local government unit so as not to make a repeat of the
safety issues hounding Pandacan.
“And so that’s why we have to
look at the depots as part of a national system of depots. The local
government unit should also coordinate with the national government,
as represented by the [Department of Energy], to get a broader
perspective of where the depots lie within this national system of
transporting and storing fuel,” he said.
The Pandacan oil depot,
jointly-operated by Petron, Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp. and
Chevron Philippines (formerly Caltex), supplies half of the
country’s fuel needs including that of 1,800 retail stations in
Metro Manila and outlying provinces, 70 percent of the shipping
industry’s fuel requirements, 90 percent of lubricants and 75
percent of the aviation industry’s fuel needs.
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