Amid the Middle East Conflict, Fuel Prices in PH Continue To Increase
FUEL PRICES – Former Department of Energy Secretary Jericho Petilla reveals his “fearless forecast” on the costs of petroleum in the Philippines.
The price of diesel has reached P170 per liter following a series of oil price hikes in the Philippines. The increasing trend of the pump prices in the country is an effect of the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.
The Middle East war is ongoing for five weeks now. It started after the United States and Israel launched joint airstrikes against Iran which killed many Iranians including their supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Iran warned the world to prepare for oil to hit $200 per barrel. Tehran immediately banned the U.S. and Israel-linked oil shipments from passing the Strait of Hormuz following the attack.
The Strait of Hormuz is a waterway that is vital for the international oil shipments. According to Iran, they will make the Americans regret their alleged “grave miscalculation” through the high oil costs.
U.S. Pres. Donald Trump previously issued a threat against Iran to open the Strait of they will blow up the power plants of the country. However, for its part, Iran warned back that they might fully close the waterway instead as they remain uninterested on negotiating with the Americans.
Meanwhile, Iran agreed to allow the oil shipments bound for Manila to safely pass the Strait of Hormuz. However, Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Sharon Garin clarified that the Hormuz pass will not provide immediate relief on the high fuel prices in the Philippines now.
“Even if much of our fuel is sourced from regional hubs like Singapore or Korea, the crude oil where these come from often passes through the Strait of Hormuz,” Garin expressed.
Amid the high fuel prices in the Philippines, the former DOE chief, Jericho Petilla, expressed his “fearless forecast” that the pump prices in the country will not return to the P61-level even after the war in the Middle East will subside. He also believes that tax cuts may not be able to pull the pump prices down.
“Fearless forecast: There is no more, huwag na kayong umasang babalik pa ng P61 ‘yan,” the former Energy Chief told Unang Hirit during an interview.
Based on the report, Petilla predicts that the fuel prices will allegedly remain high as many oil refineries and oil extraction infrastructures have been destroyed. For diesel, he believes that it will supposedly remain a little over P100 per liter after the war.
“Ang diesel will be P100 or a little over P100, and then gasoline is a little under P100 kapag nag-normalize na lahat dahil maraming infrastructure na nasira sa ating mga refineries at mga oil extraction sa Middle East,” the former DOE Chief said.
The former Energy Chief stressed that the important thing now is to survive. According to him, adjustments on fuel consumption and overall spending must take place.
“It’s a world crisis. Ang pinaka-importante sa lahat is, in any crisis, is to survive. At maraming sakripisyo ang daranasin natin kapag gusto natin mag-survive. But the most important thing is to survive,” Petilla expressed.
Amid the high oil costs in the country and the government releasing fuel subsidies to the drivers, Senator Erwin Tulfo called on the government to include the middle income earners in the ayuda from the government.