DOE: No leaks found along FPIC pipeline

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Energy (DOE) said yesterday it found no leaks during the pressure-controlled leak test it conducted on First Philippine Industrial Corp.’s 117-kilometer Batangas to Manila white oil pipeline over the weekend.

“The pressure in the FPIC white oil pipeline continues to be stable. No leaks also from monitoring wells. We will monitor until Tuesday noon. After that, we prepare report to be submitted to Supreme Court,” Energy Undersecretary Jay Layug said.

According to Layug, the DOE will continue to monitor the pipeline test over the next three days.

The DOE supervised the leak test with the SGS expert from New Zealand Emiel Verveer as independent observer, and in the presence of the University of the Philippines-National Institute of Geological Sciences, the UP Institute of Civil Engineering and representatives from both FPIC and West Tower. FPIC and First Gen Corp. will shoulder all test expenses.

The DOE official said the department, together with experts commissioned by the FPIC to undertake the pipeline test, will submit separate reports to the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeals.

Late last week, the FPIC conducted the test on its white oil pipeline to determine the structural integrity of the pipeline as ordered by the Supreme Court. The FPIC said the two-stage test entails running a scraper pig (pipeline inspection gauges) to eliminate air gaps within the pipeline.

The cleaning pigs will remove any voids, gas pockets and dirt inside the pipeline segments, thereby ensuring the accuracy of the leak test.

The pipeline has not operated for more than a year since it was ordered closed 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 Supreme Court issued a writ of kalikasan in November 2010 that required FPIC to stop operations. The second stage is the actual leak test, which involves filling the lines with diesel product to reach target pressure levels for a period of not more than 48 hours, after which the pipeline will be shut down.

The leak test is considered successful when the holding pressure is maintained over at least a 24-hour period, fluctuating only minimally due to changes in temperature.

In an en banc resolution issued on Nov. 22, the Supreme Court temporarily lifted the writ of kalikasan it issued on the white oil pipeline of FPIC last year specifically to allow for pressure-controlled leak tests to once and for all determine the structural integrity of the entire pipeline, which will largely determine when the pipeline can resume operation.