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Cristina Chi - Philstar.com
March 30, 2026 | 10:38am
MANILA, Philippines — Petron Corp. has confirmed its purchase of about 2.48 million barrels of crude oil from Russia and indicated it may purchase more if the crisis in the Middle East continues to choke off the Philippines' traditional supply routes.
In a disclosure, the country's sole refiner said it lost access to four million barrels of Middle East crude in the span of eight days after the US-Israel war on Iran shut down the Strait of Hormuz, forcing it to turn to Moscow as an emergency measure and last resort.
The Russian crude, together with other supplies Petron has secured, will keep its refinery running through June, according to the filing on Monday, March 30.
The company controls 30% of the Philippine fuel market and operates the only oil refinery in the country. The Philippines sources roughly 98% of its crude from the Middle East, a dependence that until last month had not been tested at this scale.
"The procurement of Russian crude oil is not part of the Corporation's business-as-usual sourcing strategy, and the purchases were undertaken strictly out of extreme necessity as an extraordinary emergency measure," Petron said. The company added that it acted "only after exhausting all commercially and operationally viable alternatives."
From shipping reports to formal disclosure
The disclosure comes after weeks of partial confirmations and hedged statements about what exactly Petron had purchase and how much oil it had bought from Russia.
Philstar.com first reported on March 25 that a Russian oil tanker had arrived in the Philippines, citing shipping tracker Marine Traffic data showing the Sierra Leone-flagged Sara Sky docking at Limay, Bataan on March 23. Multiple analytics firms — LSEG, Kpler, and OilX — had identified the vessel as carrying ESPO blend crude from Russia's Kozmino port, bound for Petron's refinery.
Agence France-Presse subsequently reported that shipping documents listed Petron as the consignee of the roughly 700,000-barrel cargo.
Petron CEO Ramon Ang had earlier told AFP the company was "in talks" to buy Russian oil but later declined to confirm the specific shipment.
Energy Secretary Sharon Garin disclosed last week that two batches of 700,000 barrels each had already arrived, bringing total deliveries to 1.4 million barrels.
Monday's filing now puts the full purchase on record at 2.48 million barrels.
How Petron lost four million barrels
Petron in its disclosure explained how the conflict in the Middle East had choked off two expected deliveries of crude.
On February 28 — the day the United States and Israel launched Operation Epic Fury against Iran — a shipment of two million barrels of crude bound for Petron could not safely pass through the Strait of Hormuz. The waterway had been closed to all merchant vessels.
On March 7, a second shipment of another two million barrels was cancelled because of escalating risks in the Red Sea and the strait.
Petron described the situation as "an imminent threat to the country's fuel supply security and the economy at large," noting that approximately 98% of the Philippines' crude oil imports pass through Hormuz.
Petron: Government backed the deal
Petron said it did not act unilaterally and said it coordinated closely with the Department of Energy and the Department of Finance, both of which encouraged oil firms to find alternative sources of crude and finished petroleum products.
On the legal question — particularly around US sanctions — Petron cited a March 12 letter from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas confirming that Philippine law does not prohibit sourcing foreign currency for import and trade transactions. The company said its understanding was that there were no domestic legal barriers to importing Russian crude.
The purchases were facilitated by a US Treasury waiver issued on March 12 that authorized the sale and delivery of Russian crude already loaded on vessels. This waiver is valid until April 11.
What comes next
Petron left open the possibility of further Russian purchases.
"If the current crisis persists and alternative crude sources remain unavailable or insufficient, the Corporation may again be compelled to consider purchases of Russian crude oil to augment the national fuel supply," the company said, adding that any future procurement would be done in coordination with the government.
