The Philippines will import 240 million liters of diesel from Russia but that will only last for three days, and will not be enough to slow the increase in the prices of fuel in the country, an official said Thursday.
Wimpy Fuentebella, an undersecretary at the Energy department, said the government was working out a deal with Russia for the delivery of diesel, which will be part of the country’s petroleum reserves and will not be for immediate public consumption.
He said the diesel from Russia would arrive soon but will not be enough to pull oil prices down, saying “it is too little and is meant for stockpiling in case of emergency.”
Fuentebella said the Philippine National Oil Co.-Exploration Corp. was now trying to seal a government-to-government deal with Russia for the delivery of the diesel fuel.
Russia is not a member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, the group where the Philippines often buys its oil.
Fuentebella said his department had instructed the PNOC-EC to engage in the retail trade or sell petroleum products from Russia and from other oil-producing nations that are not members of Opec.
The Philippines’ top 10 crude oil suppliers are Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Malaysia, South Korea, Qatar, Russia, Oman, Brunei, and Indonesia.