Department of Energy (DoE) officials and members of the Malampaya SC-38 joint venture partners led the groundbreaking ceremonies for the construction of the country's first-ever compressed natural gas (CNG) mother refueling station in Tabangao, Batangas City on March 5, 2005.

The groundbreaking ceremony paves the way for the government's CNG for Public Transport Pilot Project (PTPP) which also supports the Natural Gas Vehicle Program for Public Transport (NGVPPT) spearheaded by the DoE with support of  the Malampaya partners and Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corporation (PSPC). The project aims to promote the use of natural gas in the transport sector to help ensure fuel supply security and diversity as well as improve air quality.

Malampaya natural gas will be compressed into cylinders at the CNG mother station, one of the three components of the CNG PTPP, from where the CNG will be transported by land to the daughter retail station in Binan, Laguna located along the northbound lane of the South Luzon Expressway.

The project will initially serve some 70 gas-powered provincial buses expected to ply the Manila-Batangas-Manila routes by the end of the year.

Both CNG mother and daughter stations are scheduled to be operational on June 12, 2005. The project will mark the first non-power utilization of the Malampaya natural gas.

"With the construction of the 'mother-daughter' refueling station, the operations of our pilot CNG bus program is now on its final takeoff," said Outgoing DoE Secretary Vincent Perez said. The seven-year CNG pilot project will determine the commercial viability and market demand for CNG-fueled public utility buses.

Leading the Shell Group in the ceremony were Chief Executive Officer for Shell Asia Pacific Dominique Gardy, Shell Companies in the Philippines Country Chairman Edgar Chua, and Malampaya Asset Manager Keith Perrin, Texaco Malampaya LLC President Hank Tomlinson and PNOC-EC Vice President Rafael del Pilar completed the Malampaya consortium. Argentine ambassador Mario Schuff, British Ambassador Peter Beckingham and Dutch Ambassador Robert Vornis, Batangas local officials led by Jerry Katigbak, Chief of Staff of the Provincial Government also attended the event.

The historic groundbreaking ceremonies included the laying of a time capsule and unveiling of a marker.

CLEAN GAS FOR TRANSPORT. Outgoing Energy secretary Vincent S. Perez (right) together with (1-r) Dutch Ambassador Robert Vornis, ChevronTexaco Malampaya LLC President Hank Tomlinson, Shell Executive Officer for Asia Pacific Dominique Gardy, Malampaya Asset Manager Keith Perrin, and British Ambassador Peter Beckingham ready their shovels to pour sand onto the buried time capsule during the groundbreaking ceremonies for the construction of the country's first-ever compressed natural gas (CNG) mother station in Tabangao, Batangas City. Looking on is Shell Philippines Exploration B.V (SPEX) External & Government Affairs Manager Facundo Roco.