The Philippine National Oil Company (PNOC) intends to build one new storage tank before the end of the year as part of its strategic petroleum reserve and oil storage facility deal with Maharlika Investment Corporation. While PNOC are contributing assets private operators to manage the facility, Maharlika will act as a capital provider.
The overall investment will be around P5 billion (€69.3 million) per storage tank, each of which will be capable of storing 500,000 to one million barrels of oil.
Sharon Garin, PNOC chairman and Energy Secretary, says: ‘The PNOC reported that they have already started the studies and they have already allocated a budget with objective of having at least one tank ready by the end of 2027. That is one million barrels per tank. We are moving this forward to provide the country with a government-held emergency fuel buffer that can be called upon when major international supply disruptions threaten our energy security. Our objective is hopefully to have around 15 tanks, but that will take time because this is a very expensive and long process. What we need are roads, ports and all the other facilities that should be in a petroleum reserve. Every additional source we develop, every reserve we build and every indigenous energy resource we bring into our energy mix makes the country less vulnerable to the next global shock.’
