Petron 'halfway through' moving out of Pandacan

In compliance with a Supreme Court ruling, oil giant Petron Corp. is halfway through the process of moving its facilities out of the Pandacan oil depot, Petron chairperson and CEO Ramon Ang said Tuesday. “We will be finished with the relocation in three years’ time," Ang said on the sidelines of the Manila Electric Co. stockholders’ meeting. He added that Petron is eyeing five different sites that will make use of the so-called “logistics tanks." Declining to name all locations being eyed to house the new Petron oil depot, the Ang said Petron will likely locate some of these in Cavite and Batangas. Last month, Ang said the relocation could cost Petron about $500 million or P21.55 billion. He noted that the move will turn out to be cost-efficient for Petron in the long run, explaining that the vessels that delivered petroleum products to Pandacan from Bataan could carry only 1,000 tons per shipment. “In the new site, the vessel can carry around 20,000 tons," said Ang. Petron, Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp., and Chevron Philippines Inc. jointly run the Pandacan depot, hounded in recent years by health and environmental safety and security issues. Early this month, the environment group that had won the SC case to evict these firms from Pandacan renewed its call for the oil firms to move out and clean up as they leave. The Pandacan oil depot supplies approximately half the Philippines’ total fuel demand and 100 percent of its lubricant requirements, servicing not only the transport industry but also the industrial sector. — PE/VS, GMA News