PHL eyes Russian oil as cushion vs energy crunch

Amid worries that the unrest in North Africa and Middle East may disrupt the world’s petroleum-based energy supply, the administration of President Benigno Aquino III is now eyeing Russia as a possible source of the country’s oil supply. In an interview with Malacañang reporters, Energy Secretary Jose Rene Almendras said the government is now looking at countries other than those in the Middle East as an option to its usual crude supply. “Choices are basically the very few oil exporting countries left in Asia. There are discussions, and the oil companies have started getting oil from Russia, so those are the options being considered," Almendras said. He said the biggest problem the country could face, more than soaring prices, is a possible disruption in the flow of crude supply even if Malacañang repeatedly assures the public that the country has enough supply of oil. “Our biggest problem is not going to be price but the flow of supply, because no matter how much you are willing to pay, if the flow is interrupted, you will not have oil," the Energy secretary said.
For the latest Philippine news stories and videos, visit GMANews.TV At present the bigger oil firms have 24 days’ supply of finished products and 25 days’ of crude oil, or a total of 49 days’ inventory, while the smaller players have an average supply of 20-25 days of finished products, he said. PNoy to form study panel In a related development, President Aquino ordered the creation of an interagency committee that will refine and review existing contingency measures in preparation for a worldwide oil supply crunch. “There is already a contingency plan that has been carried out through the years. We have been looking at it, we’ve found that there are some assumptions and some structures in the past that were no longer applicable today," Almendras said. For his part, Ricky Carandang, head of the Presidential Communications Development and Strategic Planning Office (PCDSPO), said the committee will be officially formed once the President issues the pertinent executive order even as he did not say when the order will be signed. “An interagency committee headed by the DOE (Department of Energy) is being created under orders of the President, to study contingencies in case of a disruption in global fuel supply," Carandang said, “For now, we still don’t have a problem with the supply. We have enough supply but these are contingency plans just to ensure that we will have a continuous supply of oil," he added. Almendras will lead the committee together with the Department of Interior and Local Government, Department of Finance, Department of National Defense, and Philippine National Police, among others. Meanwhile, asked if President has plans to meet with oil companies to discuss the current situation, Lacierda said there is none. “There are no plans to meet with the oil companies right now and certainly the oil companies are also sensitive with respect to increasing price because if you increase price, there’s a tendency for the consumers to use less gasoline, so it has an effect also. The increasing price has an impact on oil consumption," Lacierda explained.—JV/VS, GMA News