MANILA, Philippines - Lopez-owned First Philippine Industrial Corp. (FPIC) has started flowing diesel at its Batangas-Pandacan pipeline as part of the 48-hour pressure test authorized by the Supreme Court amid a gas leakage in its pipes more than a year ago.
In a statement, FPIC said the pressure controlled leak test on its white oil pipeline is aimed at determining the structural integrity of the pipeline as ordered by the Supreme Court.
Energy Undersecretary Jay Layug said the pipeline leak test would be supervised and monitored by the Department of Energy.
According to FPIC, the two-stage test entails running a scraper pig (pipeline inspection gauges) to eliminate air gaps within the 117-kilometer Batangas – Manila white oil pipeline prior to the conduct of the pressure controlled leak test.
The first stage is where cleaning pigs will run through each of the three segments of the pipeline — the Chevron and Shell spur lines and the main line from Lipa to the Pandacan depot. The cleaning pigs will remove any voids, gas pockets and dirt inside the pipeline segments, thereby ensuring the accuracy of the leak test.
The presence of gas pockets is likely since the pipeline has not operated for more than a year since it was unilaterally closed by FPIC on Oct. 27, 2010, after it was discovered as the source of the oil that had been leaking into the basement of West Tower Condominium in Bangkal, Makati.
This was before the Supreme Court issued a writ of kalikasan on November 2010 that required FPIC to stop operations.
The second stage is the actual leak test, which involves filling the lines with diesel product to reach target pressure levels for a period of not more than 48 hours, after which the pipeline will be shut down. The next one to two days will allow for pressure stabilization within the pipeline. The remaining three days will be for monitoring the holding pressure.
The leak test is considered successful when the holding pressure is maintained over at least a 24-hour period, fluctuating only minimally due to changes in temperature.
The pressure controlled leak test was also recommended by the DOE’s pipeline integrity expert, Societe Generale de Surveillance (SGS), a well-respected international technical consultant in the area of pipeline operations and engineering.
The DOE will supervise the leak test with the SGS expert from New Zealand’s Emiel Verveer as independent observer, and in the presence of the University of the Philippines-National Institute of Geological Sciences (UP-NIGS), the UP Institute of Civil Engineering (UPICE) and representatives from both FPIC and West Tower. FPIC will shoulder all the expenses of the tests.
In an en banc resolution issued on Nov. 22, the Supreme Court temporarily lifted the writ of kalikasan it issued on the white oil pipeline of FPIC last year specifically to allow for pressure controlled leak tests to once and for all determine the structural integrity of the entire pipeline, which will largely determine when the pipeline can resume operations.
The Court is allowing the pipeline’s operation for the duration of not more than 48 hours from the start of the proposed test runs and only for the duration of said tests.
Prior to its closure, the 117-kilometer Batangas-Manila white oil pipeline supplied more than 50 percent of the petroleum products for Pandacan, considered as the largest and most important depot in the country. This depot supplies fuel to 459 stations in Metro Manila and about 1,800 gas stations in Regions 1 to 4.
On a nationwide basis, the Pandacan depot also supplies 70 percent of the shipping industry’s needs; 90 percent of lubricant requirements; 75 percent of all aviation fuel needs; and 25 percent of the demand for chemicals.
As such, the Batangas-Manila pipeline is considered Metro Manila’s energy lifeline, supplying to critical industries like transport, construction, food manufacturing, rice and sugar mills, mining and power generation.
The reopening of the pipeline would likely help oil companies reduce the cost of transporting fuel products to Manila as it is still considered the safest and most cost-efficient way of shipping products to Manila.