Marcos: PH seeking new sources of fuel imports
The Philippine government has approached countries outside its traditional sources of imported fuel to secure supply amid the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, according to President Marcos.
Also on Wednesday, the President said he would declare a bill granting him emergency powers to lower the excise on fuel urgent. One such measure, which included his lawmaker son among its proponents, was approved by the House of Representatives on second reading on Wednesday.
But both the House and the Senate must first complete their respective committee reports and begin plenary debates on the proposal, Mr. Marcos told reporters on the sidelines of his official trip to the United Nations headquarters in New York City.
“What we asked of the legislature is really very simple. [It] is that … when the price of oil has breached $80 per barrel on average for a month, then the emergency powers can be exercised,” the President said.
Data from the Department of Energy (DOE) showed that the bulk, or 98 percent, of the country’s crude oil import comes from the Middle East. The remaining 2 percent is from neighboring nations.
‘Inevitable effect’
Speaker Faustino Dy III and Majority Leader and Ilocos Norte Rep. Sandro Marcos filed on Monday a bill seeking to grant the President the emergency powers. Senate President Vicente Sotto III and Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo Lacson have also said they will prioritize similar proposals.
“In terms of supply, we are in good shape. And not only do we have inventory in the Philippines, we also are awaiting some supplies coming in that are in transit,” Mr. Marcos said. “We are talking to many other countries [whom] we normally do not buy oil from, but hopefully, we will be able to come to an agreement with them and that we will get further supply from them.”
He cited the “volatility” of the Middle East conflict as a challenge, noting the uncertainty as to how long it would last.
The President earlier assured the public that the Philippines had a sufficient stockpile of petroleum products that can last for 50 to 60 days.
Asked what measures the government was taking to soften the impact of oil price hikes on the price of basic goods, he answered, “We’re trying to keep prices down, but there’s an inevitable effect.”
He noted that oil prices went above $100 per barrel but went down to below $90 on Tuesday, and “That gives us a little better chance of providing subsidies for our people, for providing support for the affected sectors.”
1M barrels of diesel
The Philippines mostly gets its liquefied petroleum gas imports from Asian countries, with only 5.3 percent from the Middle East.
Meanwhile, 97 percent of imports of liquid petroleum products—such as diesel, gasoline and kerosene—are from Asian countries.
While the majority of imports for petroleum products come from Asia, Energy Secretary Sharon Garin said in a briefing that they still source the crude oil from “multiple producing countries, including those in the Middle East.”
Rino Abad, DOE director of Oil Industry Management Bureau, said a plan was already laid out to the Philippine National Oil Co. (PNOC) for the possible acquisition of at least 1 million barrels of diesel.
With this added volume, the local market can get five more days of supply. About 200,000 barrels have been estimated for consumption per day across the country.
He hopes, however, that the figure can eventually be increased to 3 million, given supply constraints caused by the conflict.
Additional supply
Once the plan is cleared, PNOC would use government funds to procure the additional supply from South Korea, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia.
Tapping the United States and Canada may also be considered, although Abad said it would take three weeks before the supply can land in the Philippines, compared to only a week from Asian countries.
Garin, however, allayed fears of a possible supply shortage, saying local fuel retailers have an inventory enough for two months. She also directed these companies to jack up their orders.
The issue, she stressed, lies in pricing.
This week, the Philippines saw its highest single-week adjustment to date for fuel prices, hitting up to P38.50 per liter.
Some oil firms agreed to stagger the big-time price hikes, including Shell Pilipinas, Petron, Total, Chevron, Jetti Petroleum and Seaoil.
