The Philippines’ only oil refinery, Petron, bought nearly 2.5 million barrels of Russian oil due to “extreme need, it said in a paper to the stock exchange released today, as the Philippines seeks to increase its fuel reserves due to the energy crisis brought on by the war in the Middle East.

The price of fuel has soared in the archipelago, which is heavily dependent on imports, since the start of the war between Israel, the US and Iran on February 28, sparking driver protests.

The Petron refinery “bought a total of 2,480.000 barrels of crude from Russia” after seeing the delivery of at least four million barrels cancelled following the start of the war in the Middle East and Iran’s de facto closure of the Strait of Hormuz, through which 20 percent of the world’s hydrocarbon production normally moves, the company said in a statement to the stock exchange.

“The purchases were made strictly out of extreme necessity, as an urgent emergency measure in response to unprecedented geopolitical and curatorial turbulence, and only after all commercially and operationally viable alternatives had been exhausted,” it clarified in the document dated 27 March.

“The shutdown of the refinery due to lack of supplies would cause severe fuel shortages nationwide and a large increase in prices,” Petron further justified, stressing that the refinery meets 30% of the country’s fuel needs.

“This imported crude, added to all the other crude reserves already built up, will allow Petron’s oil reserves to increase until the end of June 2026,” it added.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. had announced late last week that the Philippines has crude oil reserves until June 30.

A ship carrying more than 700.000 barrels of Russian crude oil arrived in the archipelago last week, a source familiar with the matter told Agence France-Presse on Thursday, after the country had announced that it was in a state of “energy emergency”.

Earlier in March, the US had eased some sanctions, allowing until April 11 the purchase of Russian oil currently loaded on ships at sea.

In addition, in Vietnam, the Binh Son Refining and Petrochemical refinery announced today that it is in talks with Russian partners to buy crude oil.

The company said it will also buy crude from Africa, the United States and Southeast Asia.