PNOC-EC to take over Shell CNG station

PNOC Exploration Corp., the upstream oil and coal arm of state-run Philippine National Oil Co., expects to take over by March 2013 the compressed natural gas station in Laguna owned by Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp.

This acquisition is expected to be used as a platform by the government to aggressively push for the massive use of alternative fuels like CNG for public transport in the Philippines.

The Department of Energy wants to have as many as 1,000 buses running on CNG.

According to PNOC-EC chief of staff Silvestre Punsalan III, the company will be retrofitting the CNG refilling station in Mamplasan, Laguna, as soon as it takes over the facility in March next year.

This means that it will replace the compressor and equipment within the station with the latest and most suitable technology for this venture.

The current technology used at the Mamplasan station was partly blamed for the inability of Shell to provide adequate supply to CNG bus owners.

PNOC-EC is still reviewing the offers submitted by seven companies for the supply and installation of CNG equipment at the Mamplasan station.

“If the Mamplasan gas station is successful, we will build more gas stations,” Punsalan added.

PNOC-EC is also still waiting for DoE approval of the price of CNG, which was previously priced at P14.25 a liter.

While the government could not bring down CNG prices to the same level, Punsalan said that the new price would still be lower than diesel prices.

Aside from the refilling station, PNOC-EC is also taking over the CNG mother station in Batangas.

These were formally agreed upon only in April this year, with the signing of three agreements covering the transfer of the facilities, supply of gas from the Malampaya field off Palawan, and contracts with the CNG bus operators.