Although the entire situation still proves disturbing to affected Makati City residents, the underground pipeline leading to the Pandacan oil depot was ordered reopened Saturday night by the Department of Energy (DoE) to avert an oil supply shortage in Metro Manila.

“We started using the pipeline Saturday night, 8:30 p.m., after Makati City gave us approval to do so after completing the evaluation of the 13 other test pits,” DoE Secretary Jose Rene D. Almendras said Sunday.

Almendras said the decision to temporarily reopen the pipeline was made with due consultation with the city government of Makati, which has been weighing the hazards from a suspected underground leak in one of the city.

Nevertheless, he assured that there would be continuous monitoring of the pipeline’s operation, given that residents at West Tower condominium in Makati City are not in a “safety zone” yet.

“Makati City, FPIC (First Philippine Industrial Corporation) and DoE have been monitoring since the pipeline was temporarily reopened and so far no leaks have been found,” Almendras said. FPIC of the Lopez group is the operator of the oil pipeline.

Given some back deliveries that occurred when the pipeline was closed though, industry players noted that depot and supply levels in Metro Manila will take some days before they will normalize. It was gathered that in Shell stations, dilemmas in supply deliveries already started Friday evening.
“We expect depot levels will be restored to original level by late this afternoon or early evening (of Sunday),” the energy secretary has emphasized.

In a text message, Shell Vice President for Communications Roberto “Bobby” Kanapi said they assess that the supply of petroleum products in their filling stations “will normalize Tuesday yet because of back deliveries.”

As far as the cause of the oil seepage at the Makati condominium is concerned, Almendras assured that “Makati City, FPIC and DOE continue to monitor and investigate the problem.”

In a meeting Saturday, the energy department engaged the help of other oil companies to help augment supply for Metro Manila, in case the FPIC pipeline’s shutdown will take longer.

In an interview, Fernando L. Martinez, chairman of the Independent Philippine Petroleum Companies Association Inc. (IPPCA) noted that their group’s member-oil companies have inventories that could help prop up supply at the duration that Shell encounters delivery setbacks to its stations or distribution networks.

“We are aware and monitoring developments since late last week. The industry as a whole would surely be able to cope with that temporary supply problem given the healthy inventory of 30 days,” Martinez stressed.

Meanwhile, airline industry players Philippine Airlines (PAL), Cebu Pacific Air and Southeast Asian Airlines, Inc. (Seair) assured the riding public that their operations are shielded by any fuel supply shortage.

PAL President Jaime Bautista, in an interview with the Manila Bulletin, explained that the flag-carrier sources its “jet fuel requirements from various suppliers to ensure steady supply” should there be problems from one source.

For corporate clients like PAL and Cebu Pacific directly get their aviation fuel from Shell and Chevron. There is no middleman.

“Although we buy from Shell and Chevron, bulk of our fuel requirement comes from Petron. And, a percentage of our aviation fuel requirement is imported. We try to source our jet fuel requirements as much as possible from various sources so we will not be dependent on just one source that could cripple our operations,” pointed out Bautista. Cebu Pacific and Seair officials took the same stance, saying both have diversified aviation sources.

Aside from this, Seair President Avelino Zapanta revealed the airline company has adopted a “fuel conservation program” that would bridge the requirement to meet such situation.

“We… (have) necessary supply of aviation fuel to support normal operations,” said Candice Iyog, Cebu Pacific vice president for marketing and distribution. (With a report from Fil C. Sionil)