Live updates: Follow the latest news on US-Iran war
The Philippines has declared a state of national emergency over its dwindling energy supplies, another fallout from the continuing US-Iran conflict.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr declared the emergency late on Tuesday, stating an “imminent danger posed upon the availability and stability of the country's energy supply”.
Energy Secretary Sharon Garin warned that the nation had about 45 days of fuel supplies left – but that is just the average across all petroleum products.
It is believed that the Philippines is the first country to declare such an emergency amid the conflict, and it provides perspective to nations heavily dependent on imported petroleum products.
“In Asia, the Philippines … [is among the] most exposed to oil and gas price increase,” said Trinh Nguyen, a senior economist at Paris-based Natixis Research.
The country is “most susceptible to sustained shocks … due to [its] heavy reliance on imported energy.”
Low production
The Philippines, a tropical archipelago near the equator, is not a major producer of oil. As of last year, it had oil reserves of about 138.5 million barrels to rank 66th globally, according to Worldometers.
Its oil consumption of nearly 474,000 barrels per day is 35th in the world – but that severely outpaces its oil production, which is only at a little more than 14,300 bpd, which is 83rd, it added.
Where does oil come from?
As of 2024, the Philippines imported crude petroleum oils worth $3.7 billion, 35th in the world, according to the latest data from the Observatory of Economic Complexity.
Saudi Arabia was its main source, with imports worth $1.79 billion, followed by the UAE ($1.22 billion), Iraq ($474 million), Colombia ($65.5 million) and Japan ($63.2 million).
The top three are right in the middle of the conflict, and their ability to export their products has been severely disrupted by the war.
Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest oil-exporting country, has cut its oil exports to Asia for April – a second straight month – signifying the widening effects of the conflict.
How has the crisis affected daily lives?
On multiple fronts. By default, higher energy prices already contribute to elevated costs of services and consumer goods.
The pinch is mostly felt on Philippine roads. Pump prices have soared by nearly 200 per cent since the war's outbreak, owing to higher import costs and supply that is becoming increasingly scarce. Gasoline products had eclipsed the 90-peso ($1.50, Dh5.50) per-litre mark.
But the hardest hit were diesel, still a widely-used fuel in the country, which neared the 130-peso mark, and kerosene, a popular alternative to liquefied petroleum gas primarily used for cooking, which touched almost 145 pesos.
That is a bitter pill for households in a country where a good portion of the population lives on minimum wages.
In addition, public transport groups have held protests and demanded fare hikes, especially to the country's popular jeepneys. The current minimum fare is 13 pesos.
Others are trying to mitigate the soaring fuel costs; ride-hailing platform Grab, for instance, has begun a programme for spot bonuses, incentive rebates and petrol vouchers for its driver-partners. This also applies to its operations in Cambodia, Myanmar, Singapore and Vietnam.
“Beyond this initial one-time support, we are in active discussions with governments, petrol companies and electric vehicle partners to secure more sustainable, long-term ways to protect our driver and delivery-partners’ earnings,” Grab co-founder and group chief executive Andrew Tan said.
How long will supplies last?
In a briefing, Ms Garin said domestic supplies of gasoline are expected to last for the next 53 days, the Philippine News Agency reported. Kerosene would last up to nearly 100 days, while diesel would last about 46 days.
Jet fuel and LPG are pegged to last about 39 days and 24 days, respectively.
A little relief is on the way, however, with a Russian tanker set to deliver 100,000 tonnes of crude to the Philippines – the result of the US suspending sanctions on Russia amid the war. Manila is also in talks with Japan, Singapore and South Korea for purchasing crude.
It remains unclear how the Philippines will tackle the crisis moving forward.
Adding to the pressure is that the country has only a single crude processing plant – one owned by industry major Petron, in which Saudi Aramco once held a stake.
