Philippine oil refinery secures 2.5 million barrels of Russian crude
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The Sierra Leone-flagged Sara Sky, which is carrying crude oil from Russia, anchored at Limay port in the Philippines' Bataan province on March 26.
PHOTO: AFP
MANILA – The Philippines’ sole oil refinery has secured nearly 2.5 million barrels of Russian crude out of “extreme necessity”, a stock exchange filing revealed on March 30, as the country seeks to replenish fast-dwindling fuel reserves.
The Philippines has seen the price of fuel hit historic highs since the US-Israeli war with Iran forced the partial closure of the Strait of Hormuz, with President Ferdinand Marcos most recently saying that stocks could last until June 30.
AFP reported last week that a tanker filled with Russian crude oil had arrived at the harbour servicing refinery operator Petron Corp, a purchase unthinkable before the United States, a long-time treaty ally, eased sanctions tied to Moscow’s war in Ukraine.
In a report to the Philippine stock exchange released on March 30, Petron said it had agreed to purchase Russian crude after seeing at least four million barrels in shipments cancelled since the start of the Middle East war.
“The purchases were undertaken strictly out of extreme necessity as an extraordinary emergency measure in response to unprecedented geopolitical and supply chain disruptions and only after exhausting all commercially and operationally viable alternatives,” the report said.
“A refinery shutdown for failure to secure crude would lead to serious nationwide fuel shortages and sharp price spikes,” said Petron, whose refinery accounts for about 30 per cent of the country’s fuel needs.
Since the war began, the cost of diesel and petrol has skyrocketed, driving protests by groups representing the country’s jeepney drivers and others.
Prices are set to tick up again on March 31.
The US earlier in March eased some restrictions on sales of Russian crude until April 11, allowing countries to purchase oil that was already at sea.
The Philippines’ Department of Energy last week announced the arrival of 142,000 barrels of government-procured diesel, part of its target of “up to two million barrels of additional supply for the country”.
Energy Secretary Sharon Garin told AFP that the shipment had come from Japan. AFP
