MANILA, Philippines — Oil prices will not increase despite ongoing conflict in Israel, the Department of Energy (DOE) said on Wednesday.
In an interview with “Bangon Pilipinas” on PTV, Oil Management Bureau Director Rino Abad said that Israel and Palestine are not major oil exporters in the Philippines.
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“Kung mayroon mang supply disruption sa Israel, hindi tayo affected,” he said. (If there should be a supply disruption in Israel, we will not be affected.)
However, Abad said there might be a possible immediate spike in oil prices if Iran is dragged into the conflict.
This is because its neighboring countries in the Persian Gulf — such as Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Qatar — are the major oil suppliers in the Philippines.
“Ang issue lang diyan, ay kung magkakaroon ng problema sa supply ng mga bansang ito,” he said. (The only issue here is if there will be supply problems in these countries.)
Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Qatar are not active participants in the conflict, but Iran is reportedly being accused of having funded Hamas in the past which its Supreme Leader denied.
When the group Hamas started attacking Israel on October 7, oil firms in the Philippines implemented pump prices rollback for the third consecutive week.
Israel officially declared war on Hamas on October 8.
The Department of Foreign Affairs has condemned the reported killings of two Filipinos by the Hamas in Israel. — with reports from Agence France-Presse