First Philippine Industrial Corp. (FPIC), owners of the largest commercial oil pipeline in the country, is not to be blamed for the gas leak in Barangay Bangkal, Makati City, at least in the eyes of the energy department.

Department of Energy (DoE) Secretary Jose Rene Almendras said that they agreed with results of an investigation carried out by the local government of Makati on the three-week-old gas seepage in Basement 4 of West Tower condominium.

What started out as a simple puddle in the 22-story condominium’s bottom basement has transformed into a four-foot deep swamp of mixed water and crude, which doesn’t seem to go away despite non-stop siphoning by authorities.

Somehow, it also mutated into a major concern for Metro Manila’s fuel supply as the FPIC pipeline had to be closed to find out it had been leaking oil. But Almendras’ concurrence has practically absolved FPIC.

Running 117 kilometers long, the FPIC pipeline carries different fuel products such as diesel, gasoline and kerosene from the Batangas port to the oil depots in Pandacan, Manila.

Major oil player Pilipinas Shell was particularly affected by the pipeline shutoff, resulting in delivery backlogs and “dried up” retails stations in Metro Manila last weekend. Bobby Kanapi, Shell spokesperson, said it would take two weeks for the supply situation to normalize.

On the other hand, smaller oil players, particularly members of the Independent Philippine Petroleum Companies Association (IPPCA), brushed off scenarios of an oil shortage in the metropolis and said that they were unaffected by the whole gas leak incident.

Leah Flor, Unioil Philippines corporate communications officer, said that they have their own depot in Sta. Ana and were not hurt by the pipeline closure.

Echoing this pronouncement was IPPCA chairman Fernando Martinez.