Diesel imports expected by July

THE ENERGY department has pushed back the target date for the importation of diesel fuel to July, or a month later than it originally projected, as the agency continues to look for ways to bring down fuel prices.

“I think there will just be a slight delay,” Department of Energy (DoE) Secretary Alfonso G. Cusi told reporters on Monday night, without giving a firm timetable for the shipments.

In late May, he said the DoE was planning to source petroleum products from Russia and other countries that are not members of the oil cartel, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).

The move was meant to “establish a strategic petroleum reserve (SPR) to cushion the impact of the rising price of oil in the international market.” A unit of the DoE’s corporate arm is to lead the project.

On Tuesday, Leonido J. Pulido III, assistant secretary at the DoE, confirmed the delay, saying the board of Philippine National Oil Co.-Exploration Corp. (PNOCEC) will discuss the department’s recommendation at its board meeting only on July 2.

“It’s up to PNOC-EC if they’re going to adopt the recommendation, but our recommendation is to have the sale and purchase agreement executed within the next 10-15 days from the date of the approval,” he told reporters.

“The project objective really is it’s supposed to be targeted fuel relief,” he added.

Mr. Pulido said the move was prompted by the continuous increase in oil prices and countering this by bringing in more supply and providing lower-priced diesel or petroleum products to “vulnerable sectors” such as transport groups and off-grid areas powered by diesel-fired generation plants.

He did not identify the non-OPEC member state from which PNOC-EC is supposed to buy the fuel.

Mr. Pulido said Russia is a possible supplier “primarily because it was felt that there’s a very distinct possibility, because of the good relationship right now, that we would be able to get better prices.”

He said one of the recommendations of the DoE is the sale of the fuel at below prevailing market prices.

“Otherwise, if they sell at the same price, then the project objective will not be satisfied,” he said, adding that the selling price target range is P34 to P36 per liter. —