RP oil supply to last till June — DOE

The Department of Energy (DOE) said there is adequate supply of oil in the country until mid-June this year.

Energy undersecretary Benhur Salcedo made this assurance as he dismissed the possibility of a government takeover of oil companies.

"If worse comes to worst, government may take over wherein we can control the oil industry and the oil companies. This may include suspension of oil deregulation law because a takeover may entail control of domestic oil prices. We cannot control prices since it will violate provisions of the oil deregulation law," he said.

But Salcedo said the so-called government take over of the oil industry is far-fetched and very remote.

"This is far from happening because we are comfortable with the level of our inventory. We are comfortable with our present oil inventory that can last up to mid-June this year," he said.

He pointed out that the country has sufficient oil supply. "I only presented a worst case scenario and this is very far from happening. We are not even close to Scenario C which will call for the fuel allocation scheme or the issuance of fuel purchase record," he said.

He added "We are not even in Scenario A yet. A government takeover is Scenario E or the last of the scenarios that we are looking at. Scenario E is characterized by a 50 percent cut in oil supply and the inventory is less than 30 days.

Within this week, Salcedo said the country’s oil inventory will reach 76 days from last week’s 68 days (47 days were in-country and the balance is in transit)," he said.

According to Salcedo, the Philippine government, through the DOE, also got support from oil producing countries.

"There are talks with Saudi Arabia, particularly Saudi Aramco (Saudi Arabian Oil Co.) to give the Philippines priority in loading," Salcedo said. "Saudi Aramco has committed for an uninterrupted supply being our traditional supplier. But we have no assurance on the price. It will depend on the market."

Saudi Aramco is a partner of state-owned Philippine National Oil Co. in Petron Corp. Both firms own 40 percent each in the only publicly-listed oil company.

The DOE also negotiated with Russia, Malaysia and Iran for bilateral oil supply agreements to ensure the sufficient supply of oil into the country if war breaks out in Iraq.