DOE sees need for national oil stockpile

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Energy (DOE) said it sees the need to put up a national oil stockpile as some countries in the region have been discussing the idea of establishing their own oil stockpiling facilities.

But Enegry Secretary Jose Rene Almendras said in the case of the Philippines, there are still several factors to consider before establishing a national oil stockpile.

He said up to now, the government has yet to identify the areas where to put the oil stockpile facility.

“There is an ASEAN plan to do stockpiling but you couldn’t get all the ASEAN countries to agree to it. Some people like it, some don’t. We, resource wise, don’t have that luxury right now,” he said.

The energy chief said the country still has a long way to go in to having an oil stockpiling facility.

“So far, we do not have facilities, no places to put it. If we do it, who’s gonna pay for it? Is the National Government going to do it, is it private? But if you give it to private, they’ll be the ones to take the advantage of the efficiency that comes out with the arbitrage,” he said.

Developing a strategic oil stockpile is part of the DOE’s Energy Reform Agenda for the medium-term to promote oil supply security.

During the 28th ASEAN Ministers on Energy Meeting, an oil stockpiling forum was conducted to include coal and nuclear cooperation.

For the past years, especially on times when the country was facing oil supply issues, the DOE has raised the possibility of securing oil requirements from other countries and put it in a stockpile. Bulk of the country’s oil requirement is being sourced from the Middle East, particularly in Iran and Saudi Arabia .

In 2005, the US Department of Energy had urged the Philippines to develop a strategic stockpile program. During that time, the country had been severely threatened by possible supply disruptions amid high oil prices in the world market.

Since then, the government, led by the DOE, has been trying to push through with the planned establishment of an oil stockpilie.

There have been areas that are identified to house an oil stockpiling facility. These include the Coastal Subic Bay Oil Terminal which could accommodate about 500,000 to 600,000 barrels of oil and the Nonoc Terminal in Surigao.