NEWS

By Victoria Tulad | ABS-CBN News | September 03, 2026 02:39pm PHT

Motorists gas up in Cainta, Rizal on March 10, 2022. Mark Demayo, ABS-CBN News/File

MANILA — The country’s first petroleum reserve facility is expected to be operational in 2028, the Philippine National Oil Company (PNOC) said Thursday.

“We are already requesting the budget, and we are already doing the site preparation for our Bataan property to be conducted this year,” PNOC Department Manager Antonio Buenviaje said during a hearing of the Senate Committee on Energy.

“The target is within one and a half years from today there will be a…standing facility, construction of the facility in Bataan,” Buenviaje added. “By next, next year, the facility is already ready to supply the needs of the Philippines.”

The initial capacity of the facility is one million barrels, but PNOC said it plans to expand this to 15 million barrels, especially since the country consumes 450,000 to 460,000 barrels per day.

“We did request for a budget of P8 billion for the construction of our first reserve tank that can accommodate one million barrels as an initial petroleum reserve of the country. Because as of now, we don’t really have a national reserve. We are relying on the reserve or the minimum inventory of our participants, our private sector,” DOE Undersecretary Riolita Inocencio said.

OIL DEPOT

Senator Erwin Tulfo, Chairman of the committee, asked DOE to also look into the proposal of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to build an oil depot in the Philippines.

Tulfo said he talked to the UAE Ambassador a couple of months ago, who assured him that they would shoulder the cost of the depot’s construction.

“They’re saying kayo ang unang beneficiary. ‘Pag nagkaroon po ng problema tayo, yung losing supply, makikita po, kayo po ang unang beneficiary namin, kasi nandito po sa Pilipinas yung reserves na yun. So why don’t we look at that rather than yung sinasabi po ninyong eight billion. Baka abutan po tayo ng Thy Kingdom Come,” Tulfo said.

DOE Oil Industry Management Bureau Director Rino Abad said there had been preparatory meetings regarding the depot.

“Napirmahan na po ni Secretary yung special order creating the Philippine SPR team para may counterpart ang bawat bansang may kakausap sa amin,” Abad said.

Tulfo replied, “Sabi nga po ng Ambasador po ng UAE, tayo lang po ang inaantay. Sila po ay ready anytime. Ready po silang mag-invest, maglagay po dito dahil, ayan na nga po, yung experience sila sa Iran, pati sila nadadamay. Eh para meron din po silang paghuhugutan.”

“I believe hindi lang po one million siguro, baka same amount din po, mga 50 million din siguro kasi may mga ibang bansa din po sinusuplayan sila dito sa Southeast Asia,” the lawmaker said.

The lawmaker said UAE was looking at constructing in Visayas or Mindanao.

Saudi Arabia and Japan also want to put up an oil facility in the Philippines, with the former committing to shoulder the construction.

Abad said Saudi Arabia’s proposal is to put up a petroleum hub.

“It’s not really owned by the Philippine government but a hub would give us the opportunity na andito yung produkto. Sabi ng Saudi Arabia, in our final agreement, you will have a reserve right in case of emergency,” Abad mentioned.

Oil companies represented in the hearing expressed support for the construction of tanks by foreign entities and for the country’s petroleum reserve.

OIL DEREGULATION

The committee also discussed proposals to the amend the Oil Deregulation Act.

Inocencio clarified that they are able to use the provision of the law that says that the government, during an emergency, can implement measures to safeguard the adequacy of the country’s energy supply.

Inocencio said it would help if the law could strengthen the DOE’s authority to mandate the allowable increase and decrease in oil prices.

Regarding penalties imposed on hoarders, Abad said traders could be fined P250,000 to P500,000 and imprisoned from six months to two years. The DOE can also suspend and cancel a permit.

Consumers may be fined P10,000 to P100,000 and imprisoned for not more than six months.

Source: ABS-CBN News