to cut PH deepl

Locsin warning triggers emergency meeting of energy officials

By Rey E. Requefd and Alena Mae S. Flores

# ". IL prices surged Monday after drone attacks on two Saudi

$& i facilities over the weekend slashed output in the world's
"' top exporter by half leading a top administration official to
wam that a steep rise in the cost of crude would "rock the Philippine
boat and tip it over."

"This is serious. It will... affect us launched drone attacks on the Abqaiq

deeply," Foreign Secretary Teodoro oil facility, the heart of the Saudi oil
Locsin Jr. said Monday after the Ira- industry on Satufday.
nian:backed Huthi group in Yemen t/r-xt We
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'So everybody shut the f*** up and
focus. No more clowns. Declaring state
of emergency won't save our economy
but kill it," the country's top diplomat
warned in his Twitter account.
The Energy department will meet
with oil industry officials this week to
look into th€ sufficiency of inventory
leYels after the drone attacks.
"lve are seeking to ensure that the
energy family will be sufficiently pre-
pared to face the potential impact of
this unfortunate incident, if any, on
the country," Energy Secretary Al-
fonso Cusi said. "Rest assured that the
DOE... is closely monitoring the situa-
tion. and will keep rhe public properly
informed of developments."
The stock market closed virtually
flat Monday in cautious trading,.as in- the day wore on but were still up
vestors weighed the new tension in the nearly l0 percent.
Middle East.
Cusi convened an emergency meeting
Sunday with tbe DOE's El..tiic po*",
Industry Management Bureau and Oil
Industry Management Bureau; the Na-
!ional Electrification Administration,
the National Power Corp., philippine
National Oil Co. and pNOC Explora-
tion Corp. at tlle Energy department's
headquarters in Taguig City.
\ qehoL1ie- i/a,}s't
"It is preniature 6t this moment io say
that the Saudi Aramco incident would
CNOOC up 7.4 percent and Petro-
China 4.3 percent higher. Woodqge
have an adverse impact on th€ country, Petroleum rallied more than 4 per&nt
The DOE is closely monitoring devel- in Sydney.
opments in the international markets However, airlines took a hit from
until the last trading day on Friday to the prospect of higher fuel costs. Ca-
fully assess any impact on the prices," thay Pacific dropped 4 percent in Hong
the DoE said. Kong, Air China dropped 4.6 percent in
Any adverse impact, it added, would Shanghai and Qantas dived more than 4
be felt by T[esday next week. percent in Sydney.
The country's biggest oil firm In related developments:
Petron Corp. said there would be no * Senator Sherwin Gatchalian said
supply disruption from its end. ..We the recent surge in oil prices underscore
have adequate supply to support our the need for the country to diversify its
domestic requirements," a company sources of imported oil to insulate con-
statement said. sumers from price volatiliry He said
Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp., the the Philippines has been importing 33.7
country's second biggest oil company, percent ofits crude oil from Saudi Aral
said it was monitoring the developments bia a3 of 2018, making it the country's
in Saudi Arabia and the \rorld markets, top supplier.
and said it would exert all efforts to en- * Bayan Muna Rep. Carlos Zarate
sure a continuous supply of fuel.
pushed for a congressional inquiry
Both contracts pared the gains as into the pricing schemes of local oil
companies as a way to protect the
public from overpricing.
China on Monday called for the US * Philippine Embassy in Riyadh ad-
and Iran to "exercise restraint.', vised Filipinos in Saudi Arabia ro re-
"Tensions in the Middle East are ris- main calm but vigilant following the
ing quickly, meaning this story will attacks. "The embassy is closely mon!
continue to reverberate this week even toring the situation and coordinating
after the knee-jerk panic in oil markets with the concerned authorities to en-
this morning." said Jeffrey Halley, sen- sure the safety and security ofall Filipi-
ior market analvst at OANDA- nos in Saudi Arabia,'' the embassy said
The surge in crucle lit a fire under tn a statement. with Maricel v. cruz
energy firms, with Hong Kong-listed ANd AFP
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