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A Philippine senator has called for the creation of a strategic crude oil reserve for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) that could provide member nations an "emergency supply" in the event of a major global crunch.
Senate Majority Leader Loren Legarda said the proposed ASEAN oil reserve patterned after the United States' Strategic Petroleum Reserve could tap Indonesia, one of the world's largest oil producers, the Manila Bulletin reported Sunday.
"The heightened tension in the Middle East has once again betrayed the vulnerability of the Philippine economy as well as other ASEAN economies to adverse price fluctuations in the open market," Legarda said.
The price of light sweet crude touched a 26-month high of US$35 per barrel in January as a result of mounting tension in the Middle East. International commodities producers predict that oil prices could hit as high as US$40 to US$45 per barrel in the event of an "extreme situation," such as a full-scale war in Iraq.
Fears of an oil supply disruption have prompted the Philippine government to compel oil companies to increase their minimum inventory.
(Xinhua News Agency February 10, 2003)
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