SC lifts order stopping FPIC operations

MANILA, Philippines - The Supreme Court (SC) has temporarily lifted its order stopping operations of the pipeline of First Philippine Industrial Corp. (FPIC) that was earlier ordered closed due to fuel leakage that affected residents of West Tower Condominium in Makati City.

In a full-court resolution released yesterday, the SC granted an urgent motion of FPIC and allowed the firm to conduct pressure controlled leak tests that would determine the structural integrity of the pipeline.

The court ordered the lifting of the temporary environment protection order (TEPO) for the duration of not more than 48 hours from the start of the proposed test runs and only for the duration of tests in order for FPIC to conduct the tests for purposes of checking the integrity of the 117-kilometer Batangas to Manila oil pipeline.

The pressure tests, tentatively scheduled for tomorrow, would be crucial in ensuring the structural integrity of the oil pipeline that was unilaterally closed by the FPIC on Oct. 27, 2010, after it was discovered as the source of the oil that had been leaking into the basement of West Tower Condominium in Barangay Bangkal, Makati.

This was before the SC issued a writ of kalikasan in November last year that required FPIC to stop operations of the pipeline.

The tests entail running a scraper pig to eliminate air gaps within the pipeline prior to the conduct of the pressure controlled leak test.

Societe Generale de Surveillance (SGS), the pipeline integrity expert of the Department of Energy (DOE), recommended the test. SGS is a well-respected international technical consultant in the area of pipeline operations and engineering.

The SC ordered that the tests be conducted in the presence of SGS, University of the Philippines-National Institute of Geological Sciences (UP-NIGS), the UP Institute of Civil Engineering (UPICE) UPICE, and the representatives of both FPIC and West Tower residents.

FPIC and First Gen Corp. would shoulder all the expenses of the tests. The results will largely determine when the pipeline could resume operations.

The court reached its decision after taking into consideration the recommendation of UP-NIGS, UPICE, and the DOE, as well as the joint manifestation endorsing the leak tests that was submitted to the SC last October by the DOE and UPICE.

“We finished all repairs on the sole leak of the white oil pipe line as early as November 2010, and the repairs passed the leak tightness tests we ran from Nov. 13 to 15, which were witnessed by representatives of various government agencies such as DOE, DENR and the Makati LGU,” FPIC president Tony Mabasa said.

“We have also implemented a lot of measures to ensure a sufficiently robust maintenance system. So we are very confident about the outcome of these tests, and about the overall structural integrity of the entire pipeline.”

Last April, the SC had conducted an ocular inspection with the DOE, UP-NIGS and UPICE that proved there were no additional leaks in the white oil pipeline of FPIC.

Prior to its closure, the 117-kilometer Batangas to Manila oil pipeline supplied more than 50 percent of the petroleum products at the Pandacan oil depot in Manila, which is considered as the largest and most important oil depot in the country. This depot supplies fuel to 459 gas stations in Metro Manila and about 1,800 stations in Regions 1 to 4.

On a nationwide basis, the Pandacan depot also supplies 70 percent of the shipping industry’s fuel needs, 90 percent of lubricant requirements, 75 percent of all aviation fuel needs, and 25 percent of the demand for chemicals.

The Batangas to Manila pipeline is considered Metro Manila’s energy lifeline, supplying critical industries like transport, construction, food manufacturing, rice and sugar mills, mining and power generation.

The reopening of the pipeline would likely help oil companies reduce the cost of transporting fuel products to Manila as it is still considered the safest and most cost-efficient way of shipping products to Manila.