Pilipinas Shell opens bitumen facility

Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp. (PSPC) has opened its P80-million bitumen import, storage and distribution facility in Mindanao.

The facility, located in Villanueva, Misamis Oriental, was built by the Shell group in an effort to firm up its leadership in the asphalt market.

PSPC’s first bitumen storage facility outside Luzon, it includes a 4,000-metric ton (MT) storage tank and a 150-MT tank with a throughput capacity of 72,000 MT per annum.

The company said the facility will offer hot bulk bitumen to asphalt batching plant customers at a relatively lower cost because of the resulting minimal reheating requirements.

Located 23 kilometers from Cagayan de Oro City, the storage facility will serve the asphalt requirements of Mindanao and key areas of the Visayas.

"The facility will be a great asset for the road building program of the national government and the development of Mindanao in particular," PSPC business manager Jimmy Bongga said.

More than a bitumen depot, this investment is an embodiment of Shell’s commitment in paving the way for the development of the southern provinces through the construction of quality road infrastructures.