DOE, Japan’s JOGMEC ink accord to update PHL nat’l oil contingency plan

The Department of Energy (DOE) and Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation (JOGMEC) on Tuesday signed a memorandum of agreement (MOA) for a study that would update the 2002 Philippine National Oil Contingency Plan, as well as provide recommendations on the creation and operation of a Strategic Petroleum (SPR) Program.

In a statement, the DOE said the MOA was signed by Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi and JOGMEC CEO Tetsuhiro Hosono.

“Today’s signing speaks volumes on Japan’s commitment to help the Philippines succeed in attaining its energy security goals. I take this opportunity to express our appreciation to the Japanese government and its private sector for helping us attain our long-term goals,” Cusi said in his remarks during the signing ceremony.

“We have been proactively seeking all potential ways to ensure the availability of sufficient energy supply, most especially in the face of local or global disruptions such as geopolitical movements, global market volatilities, and more recently, this COVID health crisis,” he added.

The DOE said the latest MOA with JOGMEC is an offshoot of the Energy department’s collaboration with Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) and JOGMEC to update the 2002 METI study, “Master Plan for the Development of Stockpiling for the Philippines”.

Under the MOA, JOGMEC will conduct a study within eight months of its signing, and the parties shall have a one-year consultative period after the submission of the final report.

The main areas of the study are as follows:

• the international petroleum products’ supply and demand situation in the past five years and the expected growth for the next 20 years
• the international strategic petroleum reserve program situation in the past five years to address supply disruptions
• the existing international oil supply security agreements both in ASEAN and other regions of the world and how the Philippines could participate
• the Philippine petroleum products’ supply and demand situation in the past five years and expected growth for the next 20 years
• Philippine Government-owned and privately-owned crude oil and finished petroleum products’ storage facilities in the past five years and the expected growth for the next 20 years
• existing Philippine policies and implementation to address petroleum products’ supply for normal demand, as well as demand for contingency/emergency response due to any international or domestic supply disruption
• an analysis of the gaps in the existing Philippine government-owned and private-owned petroleum products’ storage facilities to address the existing and the expected growth in demand, as well as the contingency/emergency response during any international and domestic supply disruption
• an analysis of the gaps in the existing Philippine policies on contingency/emergency response to any international and domestic supply disruption
• an analysis of the role of the DOE, the Philippine National Oil Company (PNOC) and other relevant government agencies to address the Philippine national petroleum products’ contingency/emergency supply strategies and measures
• provide recommendations on the creation and operation of the Philippine strategic reserve program
• submit to DOE the recommended updated 2002 Philippine National Oil Contingency Plan incorporating all the above data, information, analysis, strategic petroleum reserve program recommendations and the overall recommendations on how to address the Philippine national petroleum products supply security and contingency/ emergency response to any international or domestic supply disruption.

Two months after the completion of the study, the DOE said JOGMEC will submit to the department its final output, an updated 2002 Philippine National Oil Contingency Plan, and all its corresponding relevant data and information.

The Japanese firm will, likewise, provide relevant recommendations on the creation and operation of the Philippine Strategic Petroleum Reserve Program.—LDF, GMA News