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Malacañang may grant power to Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi to impose price caps on some oil products as part of the government contingency plan to address global oil supply concerns brought about by the attacks in one of the world’s biggest oil sources in the Middle East.
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The Department of Energy (DOE) proposed a policy that would mandate oil firms to unbundle, or itemize, the costs of petro fuel, from the pump to the consumers, due to unstable price of oil products which change every week.
In a statement, Palace spokesperson Salvador Panelo said the DOE proposed an executive order that would create an inter-agency body that would provide an oil contingency policy and review fuel purchase, conservation, substitution, and rationing, among others, in times of crisis.
“The DOE also introduced amendments in the Republic Act No No. 8479 or the Oil Deregulation Act of 1998. These include the granting of power to the Secretary of Energy to define the maximum price of oil, and to authorize the unbundling of price of oil products,” the Palace spokesman said in a statement. “©”©
According to the DOE, the proposed policy enables the unbundling of the base prices of petroleum products, namely, gasoline, automotive and industrial diesel, kerosene, jet fuel, bunker fuel oil and household and automotive liquefied petroleum gas.
“This is the first time that the government, through DOE, will require oil companies to make public the breakdown of the costs that go into the pricing of fuel,” it said.
Earlier, Cusi said possible contingency measures should be implemented to mitigate potential supply shortages, saying it is important to address issues beforehand so that the government may have contingency measures to sustain the country’s economic growth and provide basic services to the people
In his recent visit to Russia, President Rodrigo Duterte opened the door for a Russian firm to explore for oil and gas in Philippine waters being claimed by China.
Duterte invited Russian oil giant Rosneft to conduct oil and gas exploration in various parts of the Philippines, including the West Philippine Sea, which Beijing continues to claim through its 9-dash line, which was invalidated by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in 2016.
Areas in the West Philippine Sea were offered as possible exploration areas, apart from 14 areas in different parts of the country that have been previously offered as options for other firms.
“The 14 pre-determined areas are all within Philippine sovereign territory. We also mention the available areas at WPS (West Philippine Sea) which they can nominate to explore. Invitation of PRRD covers all,” said Cusi.
