THE Department of Energy (DOE) assured that the country has enough supply of petroleum products even though supply is tight and is priced higher because of the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict.
According to DOE Undersecretary Gerardo Erguiza Jr., companies have enough inventory of diesel for 42 days and gasoline for 49.7 days.
He said this is more than the government requirement of 30-days’ worth of inventory.
He said oil companies also assured that the petroleum products they ordered will surely arrive and covered by contracts for the succeeding months.
In a press briefing, Erquiza said the Russian-Ukraine conflict has no direct impact on the country’s petroleum supply but still has an impact on the Philippines as a whole.
He said the country does not directly source its petroleum supply from Ukraine and Russia supplies directly to China, Japan and South Korea, where the country buys refined petroleum products.
Erquiza likewise said that bilateral relations between Russia and China is going great, and that 2/3 or 66 percent of the country’s diesel requirements comes from China.
For now, the DOE cannot say what how much would be the latest price increases in the coming weeks and the level of supply in the world market since it depends on the situationi in Europe and if something happens to the petroleum pipeline.