"Shell has come back to the government with a firm timetable for the CNG mother station after having analyzed the technical or safety aspects," Energy Secretary Raphael P.M. Lotilla said in an interview.
Lotilla, however, said the oil firm has yet to indicate a firm date for the actual commencement of the CNG mother-daughter refilling station.
"We will soon be able to give a definite date as to when the pilot program will be able to start," he said. The energy chief expressed optimism the timetable will be shorter than expected.
"To recall, they said it will take one year last year, and recently they said that it can take six to 12 months. Moving forward, the pilot program can come in shorter or earlier than their projections. I’m not sure if it is humanly possible for them to get the program running within six months time," he said.
Due to delays in the project, the DOE is urging the Shell group to help shoulder the interest incurred by bus operators who imported CNG-run buses.
The DOE noted that bus operators loaned around P2.5 million to P3 million each from the bank which they have to pay interest.
Being a pioneer in the upstream natural gas sector, Shell has been given a sole right to pilot test the setting up of mother and daughter CNG refilling stations.
But the DOE is currently working out a set of guidelines that would carry policy declarations of the government on "open access".
Based on the natural gas development program of the government, the DOE will see to it that around 10 CNG refueling stations will be built in two years time, or from 2006 to 2007.
Initially, the government will source its natural gas requirement for the transport sector from the Malampaya project.
The DOE has accredited seven bus companies that would initially run about 185 units of CNG buses in the country’s major thoroughfares. These include: HM Transport Inc. (80 units); RRCG Transport (20 units); KL Transport Inc. (40 units); Pascual Liner (20 units); BBL Transport System Inc (five units); Greenstar Express Inc., and CNG Vehicles Corp. (10 units).
Despite the delays, DOE is targeting a minimum of 2,000 buses to a maximum of 3,000 buses running on CNG in the next 10 years.