MANILA: Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said on Tuesday he was open to talks with Beijing on energy exploration in the South China Sea, as he declared a state of emergency over fuel supplies in the wake of the Iran war.
The US and Israeli attacks on Iran, which started on Feb. 28, have caused the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz through which most of Asia’s energy supply transits.
The Philippines depends almost entirely on the Middle East for its crude oil imports. It has about 45 days of fuel supply at current consumption levels, according to Department of Energy estimates.
“The Secretary of Energy has determined that the foregoing circumstances pose an imminent danger of a critically low energy supply and that urgent measures are necessary to ensure the stability and adequacy of the country’s supply,” Marcos said in the energy emergency declaration, which will remain in effect for one year.
“A state of national energy emergency is hereby declared in light of the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.”
