The Philippine government is considering a two-track option for the country’s strategic petroleum reserve (SPR) that shall be utilized in case of disruption in the oil supply of the country.
“We have been negotiating for a bilateral agreement that we should get allocation from oil producers just in case problems arise,” Energy Secretary Alfonso G. Cusi was quoted saying in a Manila Bulletin report.
Cusi explained in the report that this oil-supply scouring strategy was in light of the recent attacks on oil facilities in Saudi Arabia that ignited fears of “super spikes” in oil prices as well as oil-supply disruption in markets in case production restoration measures had been delayed.
The ideal agreement shall be a floating storage facility for oil products that will act as an interim infrastructure in case the onshore SPR cannot be completed yet for the next two years, and a government-to-government (G-to-G) pact that guarantees oil-diplomacy among countries such as Brunei Darussalam, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Russia.
Energy Undersecretary Donato D. Marcos explained that requirements to be procured for the projects shall be, first, subjected to a feasibility study to determine the concerns such as the volume to be purchased and the budget allocation for such.
These SPR alternatives will be assigned to the Philippine National Oil Company (PNOC), with the siting of the oil stockpile either in Bataan or Batangas.