Petron Corp. has procured 2.48 million barrels of crude oil from Russia amid geopolitical upheavals disrupting the country’s traditional Middle East supply lines.
In a disclosure on Monday, the Ramon S. Ang-led company said the acquisition was made under the state of national energy emergency declared on 24 March via Executive Order 110.
The secured volumes, including the Russian crude, are expected to sustain its petroleum inventories through June.
Not part of Petron’s usual strategy
“The procurement of Russian crude oil is not part of the Corporation’s business-as-usual sourcing strategy,” Petron said.
“The purchases were undertaken strictly out of extreme necessity as an extraordinary emergency measure in response to unprecedented geopolitical and supply-chain disruptions and only after exhausting all commercially and operationally viable alternatives.”
Petron recounted a cascade of supply shocks beginning 28 February, when the United States and Israel launched military operations against Iran.
A two-million-barrel shipment could not pass through the Strait of Hormuz after Iranian forces blocked merchant vessels.
A second shipment scheduled for 7 March was canceled due to heightened risks in the Red Sea and Hormuz Strait. With nearly 98 percent of the Philippines’ crude imports sourced from the Middle East, the sudden loss posed an immediate national threat.