Taking a big bite of juicy mango mart

The Department of Energy (DOE) said it does not anticipate a delay in the construction of Shell’s compressed natural gas (CNG) mother-daughter station of Shell Group of Companies next month, a DOE official said.

“The CNG project of the Shell group is on track,” DOE director for energy management Mario Marasigan said.

He said that the necessary modifications on the safety requirements of the proposed CNG refilling stations have already been addressed.

“The modifications are undergoing test right now.  The DOE will be revalidating the results of the test after that,” the DOE official said.

Shell has deferred for over a year the construction of its CNG mother-station in Batangas due to safety considerations. With the technical concerns already being addressed, Shell officials said they will now be able to start the commercial operations of the CNG stations this year.

At the same time, Marasigan said a group of Canadian and American businessmen are also planning to put up CNG refueling stations in the Philippines. But he said the group is still evaluating the plan as they await incentives to be given to investors engaged in CNG businesses.

“There is a renewed interest from investors.  But they can’t come in without incentives,” he said.

According to Marasigan, there are also tests on buses that would be run on CNG.

He said they want to ensure that the commercial operation of CNG refilling stations would be done simultaneously with the operations of new CNG-run buses.

“We’ve been holding regular meetings with the proponents and/or the members of the Shell consortium.  We are also holding talks with bus companies to ensure that they would be both ready by June this year,” he said.

The government has given the Shell group the right to put up the first CNG station as it is considered a pioneer in natural gas development in the country after the discovery and exploration of the Shell-led consortium’s Service Contract 38 or the Malampaya deep water gas-to-power project in Northwest Palawan.

There were earlier apprehensions that Shell, after recently deciding to defer plans to expand its refinery in Batangas, may also reconsider its proposed CNG mother-daughter station project.

Marasigan said should Shell also opt not to pursue this project by the middle of the year, the DOE will have no choice but to look for other parties interested in pursuing investments in the CNG industry.

“If Shell fails, we have to invite other partners. We have to proceed with the program even with delays,” Marasigan said.

According to the DOE official, the promotion and increased utilization of alternative transport fuels such as CNG will help lessen the country’s dependence on imported fuel especially at a time of volatile oil prices.

At present, the transport sector consumes about 56 percent of the country’s total oil requirements.

Putting up CNG stations is one of the possible jumpstart points for the use of natural gas in the transport sector.

CNG is being proposed to fuel at least 200 buses which will be plying the Manila to Batangas route.

Aside from Shell and the US firm, there were other firms that have also signified interest to take part in the development of natural gas as an alternative fuel in the transport sector.

For instance, Tata Industries of India has indicated strong interest to supply and/or assemble natural gas-run vehicles.