Mixed fuel price adjustments in PH set October 27

Adjustments in domestic fuel prices are again on different paths this week, traced to the overseas supply situation.

Data released by the Department of Energy (DOE) on Monday showed that gasoline prices will be rolled back by as much as PHP0.30 per liter, while diesel prices will be hiked by as much as PHP1.20 per liter and kerosene by PHP0.50 per liter.

Petron Corporation and Jetti Petroleum will implement these adjustments by 6 a.m. on Tuesday, the companies said in separate advisories Monday.

Jetti Petroleum, however, does not offer kerosene.

The DOE’s latest data also showed adequate domestic supply, with gasoline enough for 52 days; diesel, 56 days; kerosene, 153 days; jet fuel, 63 days; fuel oil, 59 days; and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), 37 days.

“Our supply is still stable; it’s about 53 days. But what we are doing with our supply, and we are still exploring additionally, we are talking to all possible alternative countries that can supply (to us),” Energy Secretary Sharon Garin said in an online briefing Monday.

Garin said the options include suppliers from Australia, South America, North America, which include U.S., Canada and Russia and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

“That's why it's good that we shared with ASEAN, because we are talking to more countries and companies that are willing to supply to the Philippines, or we can reserve to them,” she said, referring to proposals to make the Philippines a fuel hub in the region, with a clause that it will be a priority on the supply once there is an issue.

Garin said the country’s oil supply, of around one million barrels, is being managed by the Philippine National Oil Company (PNOC), which, in turn, has been tasked not to sell the reserves placed with private depot owners, and to work on a project aimed at having a government facility for the oil reserves.

“While we don't have a storage facility here, we can have our own crude oil stored in other countries,” she said, citing that officials of DOE are currently in talks with executives from other countries “to increase our storage because as of now, we haven't seen a solution for what's happening in the Middle East.”

“And it can prolong, maybe past 2026, maybe until 2027. The problem in the Middle East is still unstable, so we can't just hope that this will end soon, or just wait for it to end,” she added