Asia/Pacific News
Major Philippines Bunker Depot Ordered to Close By Mid-2015
Oil companies have been given a deadline of July 15, 2015 by the Filipino Supreme Court to vacate a major oil depot in the country, local media reports.
The original order made the Manila City Council required the Pandacan Terminal in Manila to be transferred elsewhere by the end of January 2016, a decision which was upheld by the Supreme Court late November this year.
The terminal reportedly supplies 70 percent of the country's shipping fuel needs, along with half of the country's overall fuel needs and all of the transport and industrial sector’s lubricants.
Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada however, said that the area would be turned into a commercial zone, especially important as the area has gone from being thinly-populated to housing thousands of families.
According to the Supreme Court decision, oil companies currently using the facility must submit a plan of transfer within 45 days, and will afterwards be given six months to put it into action.
Among the list of companies are Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp, Petron Corp, and Chevron Corporation, who operates the facility.
It was reported earlier this year that the Philippines' fishing industry had been approached to reduce their use of diesel and bunker fuel in favour of more renewable energies such as wind or solar power.
