MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines’ supply of fuel will last until the latter half of May, giving it some leeway to help petroleum companies replenish their stockpiles, the Department of Energy (DOE) said on Tuesday, April 7.

Based on the latest data from the DOE’s Oil Industry Management Bureau (OIMB), the country’s average fuel supply slightly decreased to 50.42 days from the previous week’s 50.9 days. But Energy Secretary Sharon Garin told reporters that this is more than enough time to replenish the inventory.

The latest figures come after Iran assured the safe passage of Philippine-flagged tankers passing through the Strait of Hormuz.

“The normal lead time for us to order oil, especially for our oil companies, including PNOC (Philippine National Oil Company) is normally 7 to 10 days. If you placed a big order, then delivery can normally take a week to get here to the Philippines because most of them come from Asian countries, including Japan and China as well,” she explained.

Garin also noted that the country’s supply of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) is currently the lowest among all the petroleum products at just 33 days. The DOE is now in talks with local LPG firms to consolidate orders to ensure adequate buffer stock.

While the country’s fuel inventory remains adequate, Garin said that the government wants to ensure that LPG supply will remain steady regardless of what happens in the Middle East.

The DOE is expecting a fresh shipment of 300,000 barrels of diesel to arrive in the Philippines by Friday, April 10, from Malaysia through a Singaporean trader. Another 600,000 barrels are expected from either North Asia or India in the second and third weeks of the month. Given the Philippines’ daily diesel demand of around 205,000 barrels, these deliveries would add over 5 days of diesel supply.

Garin also assured the public that the DOE is not prescribing any rationing measures since fuel supply remains adequate. But she noted that, should the ongoing conflict in the Middle East subside, rollbacks in pump prices could be slower because the war damaged key oil facilities in the Gulf.

“In fact, it will be way, way slower because ang damage ng giyera na ‘to. It goes beyond the war, iba na ang epekto niya (In fact, it will be way, way slower because of the damage this war has caused. It goes beyond the war, its effects are something else),” she said. – Rappler.com