THE Department of Energy (DoE) is seeking congressional authority to seize hoarded petroleum products, impose stiffer penalties on profiteers and require a strategic fuel reserve under proposed amendments to the Oil Deregulation Law aimed at strengthening the country’s energy security.
At a Senate Energy Committee hearing on Thursday, Energy Secretary Sharon S. Garin said the DoE has no direct authority under the Downstream Oil Industry Deregulation Act of 1998 to act against fuel hoarding.
“That’s why when we issued show-cause orders, we had to use other laws,” she said, noting that the department had to rely on the legal authority of other government agencies to address hoarding.
Under the proposal, the DoE would be authorized to seize hoarded petroleum products and impose fines ranging from P250,000 to P500,000 or imprisonment of six months to two years on violators.
Energy Undersecretary Riolita D. Inocencio said the amendments would also make failure to maintain the minimum fuel inventory a punishable offense, carrying fines of P250,000 to P500,000, rising to P500,000 to P1 million during a declared emergency.
The DoE is also seeking authority to require a minimum national fuel stock equivalent to 60 days of supply, subject to adjustment based on energy security needs and available resources.
The proposal would likewise allow the department to prescribe an allowable range for fuel price adjustments based on global market conditions and require oil companies to disclose the cost components of their fuel prices to improve pricing transparency.
Senate President Sherwin T. Gatchalian, who has filed a bill seeking greater transparency in fuel pricing, backed the proposal.
“If it remains unabated, especially if we have no visibility on the pricing and into their cost components, then they will just charge our consumers however they want,” he told the hearing.
Ms. Garin also said the DoE is moving ahead with plans to establish a national strategic petroleum reserve in coordination with the Philippine National Oil Co., although funding remains a challenge.
“We’re hoping we can access that through the next budget season,” she told senators, adding that building a one-million-barrel reserve would cost about P5 billion.
The agency is considering funding from the Maharlika Investment Corp. and the national budget, while also proposing that 10% of annual excise tax collections on petroleum products be earmarked for the reserve.
Ms. Garin said the government is targeting completion of a one-million-barrel storage facility by the fourth quarter of 2027 or early 2028.
“The construction would take about a year, including the permitting that we have to do with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources,” she said, stressing the need for a strategic reserve to boost national energy security.
The Philippines declared a national energy emergency on March 24 after the US-Israel war on Iran disrupted global oil markets.
As of June 26, the country’s fuel inventory stood at 41.16 days, including kerosene stocks of 212.41 days, jet fuel stocks of 70.83 days and gasoline stocks of 42.19 days, according to DoE data.
