Compressed Natural Gas operators have been up in arms lately because the Shell CNG station in Mamplasan has been unable to supply the CNG needed to run their buses since October of 2010. These bus operators have invested heavily in the purchase of the buses powered by Natural Gas in order to be part of the government’s Department of Energy Natural’s Gas Vehicle Program for Public Transport (NGVPPT).
The operators have also expressed exasperation at being kept in the black by Shell and the government as to the real reason why there is no CNG available in the station. Losses were said to be in the figure of 1 Million a month for the operators of the CNG buses. CNG is the cheaper fuel because the Philippines has its own natural gas well at Malampaya.
Early this month it was also reported that the government was bidding out a $1.2 Billion contract for a natural gas pipeline from the Batangas refinery of Shell to Manila in order to improve the supply of natural gas. The pipeline will be called Batman 1.
[source]
Category: Automotive, Natural Gas
