The Department of Energy (DOE) confirmed the arrival of a government-purchased diesel shipment from Malaysia, delivered through PNOC Exploration Corp. (PNOC EC), to shore up national fuel stocks amid persistent global market volatility.

Energy Secretary Sharon Garin said Saturday the shipment contains 329,000 barrels, or 52,311,000 liters, of diesel, to jack up inventories amid continued tensions in the Middle East that keep global oil markets on edge.

“A shipment for PNOC-EC has arrived from Malaysia. That’s 329,000 barrels, or 52,311,000 liters, of diesel purchased by the government to build up supply while the Middle East war continues,” Garin said.

“Such a complex world, isn’t it? Someone from the Americas starts a war in the Middle East and it ends up causing suffering in Asia,” she added. 

To recall, the government initially allocated up to P20 billion to build a strategic oil buffer of up to 2 million barrels through the PNOC.

The first shipment of 142,000 barrels or 22.6 million liters from Japan arrived on 26 March. This was followed by scheduled deliveries of 300,000 barrels each from Malaysia and Singapore early this month.

Additional shipments are expected from North Asia and India by mid-April, and from Oman and Singapore by month-end.

Focusing specifically on diesel, 2023 figures indicate an average daily consumption of approximately 186,320 barrels. Thus, the secured diesel supply from Malaysia only provides a buffer of less than two days. 

To ensure an uninterrupted supply, the DOE earlier said the government will diversify its fuel import sources by tapping “non-traditional” suppliers such as Argentina, Canada, Australia, Colombia, Brunei, and India.

The Department of Foreign Affairs has also committed to hold separate negotiations with other oil-producing countries to secure more supply.

In a separate statement, the Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) said it is closely monitoring fuel and energy-linked markets amid global and domestic price pressures to guard against possible anti-competitive conduct.

The PCC said it is also watching downstream industries that rely on fuel as an input, warning that sustained market stress may create conditions for abuse of market power or collusion.

“Prolonged periods of economic downturn may tend to cause market players to take advantage of uneven access to scarce resources by entering into anti-competitive agreements or abusing their dominant position, thereby distorting competition and leading to unwarranted price increases,” the PCC said.

The commission stressed it does not set fuel prices but is ready to provide competition policy guidance to ensure government responses remain the least distortive to markets.

Likewise, it is coordinating with the DOE under a 2019 agreement covering information sharing, technical cooperation, and enforcement support for oversight of energy markets.