President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. expressed confidence that the Philippines will not run out of petroleum supplies despite ongoing turmoil in the Middle East.
He assured the public that the country currently has enough stock to last for 45 days, and emphasized that arrangements are already in place to secure continuous deliveries beyond that period.
“We can be sure that at least for 45 days we will be alright. I think that we can be fairly confident, we can be confident that after the 45 days… we will already have a flow of oil not just one delivery, not just two deliveries but a flow of petroleum and petroleum-related products,” he said.
Marcos noted that the Philippines is requesting all types of petroleum products to ensure energy security. He highlighted the country’s refining capacity through local facilities such as Petron, which can process crude oil.
“Humihingi tayo ng krudo, crude oil we are asking… dahil mayroon naman tayong refinery, nandiyan naman ang Petron that can refine it. Gasolina, diesel siyempre ang pinakaimportante para dito sa Pilipinas at kerosene at saka jet fuel para patuloy ang lipad ng mga eroplano,” he explained.
The President stressed that the government will continue engaging with other nations and private partners to guarantee steady supply.
“We will not stop this process so that we will ensure the supply of petroleum and petroleum products to the Philippines,” he said, adding, “Right now I am very confident in saying that we have sufficient supply. We will continue to source those supplies and I do not think that there is a problem. Sa aming analysis, wala tayong problema para sa supply ng petrolyo at saka ng mga petroleum product.”