The Department of Energy has convened independent oil firms for an emergency meeting to assess the status of their supply as well as secure their commitment to implement measures aimed at mitigating the impact of sharp fuel price hikes in the coming days.
Pump prices rose by as much as P1.90, as Jetti, Seaoil, Petron, Caltex, PTT Philippines, and Cleanfuel announced upward price movements of P1.90 per liter for gasoline, P1.20 for diesel, and P1.50 for kerosene.
Energy department director Rino Abad said such “big time adjustments” might prompt the agency to ask oil firms to implement a staggered approach next week to ease the impact on motorists.
Despite the supply disruptions in the Middle East, Abad noted that local oil firms have one to two months of inventory.
However, fuel prices could climb even further next week as local pumps begin to absorb the full impact of the escalating conflict in the Middle East, the DOE warned.
The US and Israel launched major attacks on Iran, killing its long time supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Iran has retaliated with a wave of airstrikes across the Middle East, targeting multiple countries that host US military bases, including Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates.
The main threat to the global oil market is the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a critical chokepoint that links the Middle East to the rest of the world for oil and gas shipments.
Even before the war, local fuel prices have already been rising. Since the start of the year, gasoline, diesel, and kerosene prices have climbed by P6.70, P9.40, and P7.70 per liter, respectively.
Business groups have urged the government to step up efforts to diversify energy sources and accelerate the development of renewable energy and domestic energy alternatives to address the country’s energy vulnerability.
The war in the Middle East may have come as a surprise, but it had already been telegraphed by US President Donald Trump in previous weeks, which should have been taken by responsible and proactive governments as a sign to start preparing for the worst case scenarios, such as the one the world finds itself in right now. Hopefully the Philippine government can find ways to mitigate the impact of the actions of the United States and Israel, and at the same time, also start preparing a suite of playbooks for any other wars and disruptions that could follow.*
