DOE, FPIC mull use of 'black line' to bypass leaking pipe

The Department of Energy is thinking of using the other Manila-Batangas pipeline — the "black line" that usually transports bunker fuel for power plants — to transport petroleum products in order to avert a fuel shortage that may occur following the shutdown of Metropolitan Manila’s only fuel pipeline that may take three weeks to repair. Since it was pinpointed as the source of the months-long leak at the basement of a nearby high-rise condominium in Makati City, the Lopez-owned First Philippine Industrial Corporation (FPIC) has shut the valves of its 40-year old pipeline and has been searching for the exact location of the leak.
FPIC’s pipeline system consists of two main pipelines carrying petroleum products from refineries in Batangas to oil terminals in Pandacan, Manila. Its 117-kilometer “white line"— the one that has been damaged — carries gasoline, diesel, kerosene, and aviation fuel and other refined petroleum products, while the “black line" transports heavier petroleum products. The FPIC, which has a 25-year concession to transport crude and refined petroleum products until 2017, is also coordinating with the DOE to create a "bypass pipeline" to go around the portion with a leak. But company officials say that it may take three weeks — at least — before the pipeline is fully repaired. "You're right, it's more difficult to find the spot (the leak) than fix it. My guys said that they can find (the leak) in 24 hours — but remember, it’s a difficult area to work in," Jojo Raule, FPIC Senior Vice President said in an interview with GMA News’ John Consulta aired over “24 Oras." With the help of the University of the Philippines National Institute of Geological Sciences (UP-NIGS), FPIC workers have been digging along the stretch of Osmeña Boulevard, at the foot of the Magallanes Overpass, taking pains to ensure that they don’t compromise the structural integrity of the 500-meter overpass. "Unang-una, ang paghuhukay na ito, kinoordinate namin with the DPWH para ma-ensure namin na ang structural integrity (of the overpass) ay hindi mako-compromise," Raule said. (First off, we coordinated this excavation work with the DPWH to ensure that the structural integrity of the overpass isn’t compromised.) UP-NIGS also made a similar assessment. “If you look at common sense and the rate of flow and the amount of work being done, mahihirapan ka ng three weeks kung tatastasin mo pa yung overpass (you’d even be hard-pressed to give [an estimate of three weeks] especially if you have to tear apart the overpass," Dr. Carlo Arcilla, NIGS Director said in a separate interview with GMANews’ Consulta. Once the leak is located, however, it is easy to repair it, the FPIC claimed. Even as DOE Secretary Rene Almendras assured the public that the supply of oil was adequate for a week, he also said his department is also looking for other ways to avert a fuel shortage. "Then we're also looking at the other oil companies who are not dependent, or who never use this pipeline, to be able to refer to us, step up, or increase their ability to deliver fuel to Metro Manila," Almendras said. Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Chevron Corp.’s Caltex unit and other oil companies are using the pipeline to transport their petrol, but there are other companies who regularly transport their products by ferry and truck. FPIC itself has promised to step up the delivery of fuel by ferry and truck, and has since mobilized its entire fleet. In light of the pipeline shutdown, fuel trucks that will deliver petroleum products from Batangas to Metro Manila will also freed from the regular truck ban, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) said. (See: FPIC fuel trucks not covered by ban – MMDA) MMDA agreed to lengthen by an hour the amount of time that fuel tanker trucks can transport petroleum products, from the regular schedule of 9 pm to 5 am, to a longer 8 pm to 5 am.
Almendraz also warned the affected oil companies not to use the “difficulty of transporting fuel" as a “reason to increase their prices." “They are not at a liberty to increase their prices. Unless the world oil prices move, I don't expect prices to move. They are not at liberty to raise prices," Almendras said. (See: DOE: No oil price hike despite shutdown of Makati pipeline) Magallanes, the culprit? In a separate “24 Oras" report, the FPIC opened the possibility that the leak may have been caused by stresses exerted on its pipeline by the Magallanes Overpass. Working on a hunch that it will find the leak under the Magallanes overpass, the company has since made a two meter-wide excavation at the foot of Magallanes Overpass. If the leak isn’t located there, the FPIC said, it will have to dig some more and search for the leak right under the bridge — and this would be much harder, since the bridge is longer than 100 meters. “Sa tingin namin, yung pipeline, na binabalutan ng concrete casing ay nasa ilalim mismo ng footing nitong retaining wall," (We think that the pipeline, which is covered in concrete casing, is located right under the footing of this retaining wall)Raule told GMA News reporter Pia Arcangel in another “24 Oras" report. According to the FPIC, the Magallanes Interchange structure was built in the 1970s, and even as early as that the company had expressed apprehensions over the building of the structure on top of their pipeline. The flyover has a daily heavy volume of vehicles, with heavy vehicles passing through regularly. On top of this, the structure itself is heavy, the FPIC said. However, the company did not want to categorically point to the flyover as the cause of the leak in the pipeline. “Kung nadidiinan iyan o nalalagyan ng stress, ang sigurong makakasabi niyan ay mga civil engineer, construction engineer," FPIC’s Raule said. (If [the pipeline] is subjected to loads or stress, only a civil engineer or construction engineer can say.) The UP-NIGS Director, however, had a more definite opinion. “There are 25,000 vehicles that pass (a day), many 40,000-kilo trucks, so pwedeng ma-she-shake (so shaking [the pipe] is possible), and the weakest point is in the joint. So that is probably, in my opinion, where the break happened," Arcilla said. Authorities discovered a leak at the basement of the West Tower condominium in July, but it was only on Thursday that excavation work around the area started. FPIC shut down the pipeline on July 12 and resumed its operations on July 15. It again shut down the pipeline on July 21 and resumed operations on July 24. The pipeline was shut down for the third time in Oct. 28 to determine the source of petroleum leak discovered at the basement of the West Tower Condominium along Osmeña Highway in barangay Bangkal. The excavation was started only after the UP-NIGS geologists discovered a new gas leak in the area, this time along the south-bound service road of Osmeña Highway in Barangay Bangkal, just a few meters from West Tower. On July 29, the Energy Department and the Makati government both cleared the FPIC. (See: Energy Dept clears FPIC in Makati condo gas leak) The DOE then said that the pipeline operator had nothing to do with the gas leak at West Tower Condominium in Makati City.—DM/JV, GMANews.TV