Gov't to build LPG buffer, eyes sustained price relief

The Department of Energy (DOE) is planning to establish a liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) buffer while continuing to monitor the possibility of sustained fuel price rollbacks to ease motorists burden.

At a media briefing on Wednesday, Energy Undersecretary Alessandro Sales said the agency is firming up a government-led LPG procurement program through the Philippine National Oil Co. (PNOC) to strengthen domestic reserves.

“In terms of LPG, we contracted the first volume through PNOC. They just signed for 22,000 metric tons of LPG,” Sales said.

“The delivery window for this cargo is sometime in the second to third week of May, so we will begin to have a small buffer stock of LPG,” he added.

Alongside LPG procurement, PNOC-Exploration Corp. (PNOC-EC) was tasked to secure diesel shipments to further stabilize supply.

Sales said logistics are progressing steadily, with the third diesel cargo expected by the end of the week, while the fourth shipment is expected to follow shortly after.

At the same time, the DOE is seeing encouraging signals in the global oil market that could translate into further relief for consumers.

Director Rino Abad of the DOE-attached Oil Industry Management Bureau said price movements in the Mean of Platts Singapore (MOPS)—a key benchmark for local fuel pricing—indicate a possible continuation of the downward trend.

“The MOPS prices somehow declined in the past two days. If this market reaction continues, we may have another rollback,” Abad said.

This week’s calculations already showed substantial price reductions, with diesel down by more than P20 per liter, gasoline by P4.43 per liter, and kerosene by P8.50 per liter.