In the inauguaration of the government's Natural Gas Vehicle Program for Public Transport (NGVPPT) yesterday, Chua said the public should temper its expectations for the commercial operations of Pilipinas Shell's CNG facilities as the country can take advantage of the alternative fuel fully only after the necessary facilities are put in place.
What the pilot project aims to achieve, through the introduction of CNG-fed buses, is to nudge the government into building the infrastructure, he said.
"A real rollout of CNG for transport will really happen once we have the necessary infrastructure in place, which calls for the pipeline that will crisscross major areas of the country," he said.
Chua said the establishment of a natural gas pipeline, specifically the Batangas-to-Manila (BatMan I) project, will enable the spread of natural gas usage within Luzon and attract investors to put up more CNG refilling stations.
Pilipinas Shell's CNG mother station, which was completed last year near its refinery in Batangas, and refilling station in Binan, Laguna, are currently the only facilities supporting the government's CNG project, which aims to have at least 200 natural gas-fed buses in Metro Manila.
The pipeline project is supposed to draw gas from Malampaya, the country's largest gas field operated by a consortium led by Pilipinas Shell, for potential users in the industrial, commercial, transport and residential sectors.
The BatMan I is a priority energy sector project of the Philippine government and has been declared by the National Economic Development Authority as a project of national significance. However, the project has yet to push as it has been hampered by the price increases of materials and equipment.
Aside from the pipeline, however, the country will also need an anchor project, power plant, industrial and commercial customers, to move the CNG project on a large scale, Chua said.
With the Philippines reels from expensive oil imports, which recently hit record highs in the world market, the development of CNG for vehicles is expected to benefit both the public and the environment as it is relatively cleaner and cheaper than its regular fuel counterparts.
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