The Manila Times
THE Department of Energy (DOE) announced that the US has issued a new waiver that will allow countries to procure oil from Russia, a move that will benefit the Philippines. “There is a new waiver, effective from April 17 until May 16, which was issued by the US. Also to clarify, the waiver applies to the Philippines as well,” DOE Undersecretary Alessandro Sales said in a media briefing. The United States Department of the Treasury recently renewed a waiver allowing countries to buy sanctioned Russian oil at sea loaded on vessels from April 17 through May 16. This replaces a 30-day waiver that expired on April 11 and excludes transactions involving Iran, Cuba and North Korea. The DOE also announced that all four diesel shipments secured under the government’s Emergency Energy Security Program have arrived, delivering a total of 178,331,781 liters of diesel to help strengthen the country’s buffer amid continued volatility in the global oil market caused by the war in the Middle East. The DOE said that the first shipment, consisting of 142,531.23 barrels or 22,660,613 liters of diesel from Japan, arrived in Batangas on March 26, 2026. The second shipment, consisting of 329,650 barrels or 52,410,065 liters, arrived in Subic. This was followed by the third shipment, consisting of 319,576 barrels or 50,808,430 liters, also delivered to Subic, and the fourth shipment, consisting of 329,918 barrels or 52,452,673 liters, which arrived in Davao City. The department noted that timely fuel arrivals are critical not only to maintaining inventory levels, but also to supporting the uninterrupted operation of key sectors such as transport, logistics, power generation, agriculture, and industry. “The arrival of all four diesel shipments shows that the government is acting with urgency to protect the country’s fuel supply. As the Middle East conflict continues, our priority is to ensure that the Philippines remains prepared, adequately supplied, and able to respond swiftly to developments that may affect fuel availability and market stability,” Energy Secretary Sharon Garin said. “We assure the public that we will continue to work closely with concerned government entities and industry stakeholders to monitor inventory, facilitate the timely distribution of fuel, and prevent supply bottlenecks that may disrupt essential economic activity,” she added. Also on Monday, the DOE said diesel and kerosene prices will go down, while gasoline prices will increase slightly on Tuesday, April 28, as the market reacted to recent developments in the Middle East. According to the agency, and based on the advisory bulletins of Shell, Seaoil, Jetti Petroleum, and Unioil, diesel prices are estimated to go down by at least P12.94 per liter, while gasoline prices are expected to go up by P0.53 per liter. The cost of kerosene is also expected to drop by at least P15.71 per liter. Last week, diesel prices dropped by around P24.94 per liter, gasoline by P3.41 per liter, while kerosene prices went down by about P2 per liter.
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