South Africa willing to assist Philippines in oil supply, says envoy

South Africa is ready to assist the Philippines when it comes to providing supply of oil and petroleum products, according to its envoy on Wednesday.

Ambassador of South Africa Bartinah Ntombizodwa Radebe-Netshitenzhe paid a courtesy call on President-elect Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. where they tackled the bilateral ties between the Philippines and South Africa.

Asked if there was a commitment from South Africa to supply oil for the Philippines, the envoy said: "We know that there has been a commitment from Angola in particular and Namibia, they will look into it but there is still oil exploration in Namibia in particular."

"Angola is already a big supplier in the Southern Africa. So what we said to the President-elect is we are open to assist, to facilitate that but what is important is that Angola has more than 10,000 Filipinos working on offshore," she added.

On Monday, Russia also expressed willingness to help the Philippines amid the soaring prices of oil products. Among the reasons for this spike of prices was the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

The war stemmed from Russia's unprovoked assault on Ukraine's separatist territories, prompting other countries to impose economic sanctions on Russia, including cutting gas pipelines.

While the Philippines does not buy oil directly from Russia, its trading partners such as China, South Korea, and Japan do, according to the Department of Energy. — Anna Felicia Bajo/RSJ, GMA News