The Philippines, one of Southeast Asia’s biggest economy which is grappling with an energy crisis due to the Middle East supply shock, has asked the United States to extend the one-month waiver on purchases of Russian oil on tankers that expired on April 11.
“We are awaiting their response, but we are very positive on getting this other window,” the Philippines Energy Secretary Sharon Garin said on Tuesday, as quoted by Reuters.
Last month, when oil prices hit a four-year high of $118 per barrel, the Trump Administration allowed the sale of Russian oil that was already loaded on tankers before March 12.
The move shielded some Asian buyers, predominantly India, from the supply shock in the Middle East in the immediate term.
India’s imports of Russian crude oil jumped by 90% in March versus February, following the major supply disruption in the Middle East and the U.S. waiver of purchases of Russian crude already loaded on tankers.
Some supply from the Middle East did reach India, thanks to Saudi Arabia and the UAE re-routing exports to ports sitting outside the Persian Gulf and not necessitating transit through the Strait of Hormuz. These workarounds, however, are insufficient to compensate the supply lost to the de facto closed critical oil chokepoint.
As the waiver expired, reports emerged that the U.S. is likely to extend this particular waiver as Middle Eastern supply remains severely disrupted.
The Philippines, which sourced 98% of all its oil from the Middle East before the war, finds itself in a position to try to avoid fuel shortages.
“We wanted to open the Russian window because we want more options. We need diversification,” the country’s energy secretary Garin said.
The Philippines, one of the Asian nations worst hit by the Middle East supply squeeze and where a national energy emergency was put in place in March, has now imported its first cargo of Russia’s Far Eastern crude grade ESPO for the first time in six years.
The Philippines is also looking to buy oil from South America, the United States, and Canada, the official said.
By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com
More Top Reads From Oilprice.com
- HSBC Sees A U.S.-Iran Deal As Key To Restoring Oil and Gas Flows
- China Cuts Back on Oil and Gas Imports as Prices Surge
- Full U.S. Blockade Could Cut Off Another 2.3 Million Bpd Oil Supply
