RP to take first delivery of Russian oil this month

The first shipment of Russian crude oil contracted by the Philippines is expected to be delivered this month by an international consortium led by the Royal Dutch/Shell Group, officials said.

A tank is expected to deliver the 700,000 barrels of light sweet crude to a refinery of local Shell unit Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp., the energy department said in a statement.

The consortium, Sakhalin Energy Investment Co. Ltd., loaded the oil onto a Philippines-bound tanker off Sakhalin Island in the Russian Far East on July 23, it said.

Manila buys most of its 600,000-ton annual crude oil requirement from the Middle East, but wants to raise the Russian Component to 10 percent, the statement said.

President Arroyo and Foreign Affairs Secretary Blas Ople explored the idea of diversifying the Philippines’ energy sources during a meeting in Manila with Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov in December.

Sakhalin Energy is a joint venture of Shell and the Japanese trading firms Mitsui and Co. and Mitsubishi Corp. – AFP