DOE: Domestic fuel supply still adequate due to steady deliveries

Measures to ensure the mindful use of petroleum products along with continued delivery of fuel have contributed to a steady domestic supply of oil products in the Philippines, Energy Secretary Sharon Garin said Monday.
In an online briefing, Garin said gasoline supply remains adequate for around 54.47 days, diesel, 50.13 days; kerosene, 129.93 days; jet fuel, 60.69 days; fuel oil, 78.87 days; and liquified petroleum gas (LPG), 40.26 days.
She said consumption is not increasing, driven partly by the work-from-home setup in the government and some private firms, as well as consumers’ efforts to limit their use of fuel.
“It’s been effective in making sure that we prolong and we protect our inventory levels,” she said.
The government, through the Philippine National Oil Company-Exploration Corporation (PNOC-EC), has ordered from abroad to help ensure adequate domestic supply, on top of those ordered by private oil firms.
The first batch of delivery of around 145,521 barrels arrived on March 26, while the second one was delivered on April 10, around 329,650 barrels.
The next delivery is scheduled for Tuesday in Subic, Zambales, for around 320,000 barrels, while the next one is scheduled to arrive on April 24 in Davao, around 330,000 barrels.
Also, around 21,000 metric tons of LPG is expected to be delivered between the third and fourth week of May.
Upon the directive of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., and after the issuance of Executive Order (EO) 110, which declared a state of national energy emergency, the Department of Energy (DOE) and the PNOC-EC have been tasked to procure additional oil supply, through the PHP20 billion allocation from the Department of Budget and Management (DBM).
Asked whether the government has made new orders of diesel, Garin said they have not.
“Not yet. We still have our 1 million barrels or 158 million liters. It’s still there and we haven’t used it yet. We’ll keep it that for now because it’s still sufficient at 52 days’ supply,” she said in a mix of Filipino and English.
“Once we notice that there is a decrease in the average number of days, then we will order when needed. But also, more than an additional order of five days, we might not have a place to stock it,” she stressed.

Oil price reduction

Based on Malacanang’s announcement a few days back, fuel prices are scheduled for rollback this week – with diesel down by PHP24.94 per liter, gasoline by PHP3.42 per liter, and kerosene by PHP2 per liter.
In separate advisories on Monday, Jetti Petroleum and Seaoil said they will reduce the price of their diesel by PHP24.94 per liter and gasoline by PHP3.41 per liter, effective 6 a.m. on Tuesday.
Seaoil said it will also reduce the kerosene price by PHP2 per liter.
Garin, during the briefing, said the government, as a result of EO 110, has somewhat had control not on the prices of fuel products but on the amount of adjustments, both the minimum and maximum amount.
She said the level of changes that the government now sets is based on the changes in prices in the international market for the whole week, as well as the cost of insurance, transportation and foreign exchange movements.
“This is not an arbitrary calculation,” she said, pointing out that earnings are already taken into consideration when setting the price.

Power supply

During the same briefing, DOE officials said an additional five renewable energy projects (RE) are now operational as of April 17, boosting domestic capacity by around 128.9 megawatts (MW).
This is in line with the DOE’s goal to have around 25 RE and energy storage projects into operation by the end of this month to help address the annual spike in demand during the summer months and limit the impact of high fuel prices because of the Middle East crisis.
These projects are the 20.6 MW Hermosa Solar Power Project of Solana Solar Alpha Inc. in the province of Bataan; the 17.5 MW Taft Solar Power Project of Taft Solar Energy Corporation in the province of Eastern Samar; the 8 MW Biomass Cogeneration Plant (Expansion Project) of Central Azucarera de San Antonio in Passi City, Iloilo; the 52.8 MW Cordon Solar Power Project of Greenergy For Global, Inc., doing business under G4G in Isabela province; and the 30 MW Arayat 3A Solar Power Project of Citicore Solar Pampanga 1, Inc. (PNA)