The PNOC Exploration Corporation will procure 2 million barrels of oil to boost the country’s buffer stock, Finance Secretary Frederick Go said Tuesday.

“The PNOC EC will be procuring 2 million barrels of oil from the global markets as a precautionary measure to add to our oil buffer stock,” Go said during the InvestPH conference in Bonifacio Global City, Taguig.

He said the volume is equivalent to about 10 days of additional buffer stock.

“The PNOC EC has already started the procurement process and we should be able to procure about 2 million barrels of oil anytime now to dispel fears that we will have an oil shortage,” he said.

PNOC EC is the upstream oil, gas, and coal subsidiary of the state-owned Philippine National Oil Company.

Oil prices rose by as much as PHP23.90 per liter this week as global prices increased due to the Middle East conflict.

Go said the government is also expanding sources of oil imports.

“Last Sunday, I, together with the Secretary of Energy, met with 16 oil companies and we came up with other measures that we can actually implement on an emergency basis. One, allow us to acquire oil at lower prices, and secondly, expand the network of countries that we can actually procure fuels from,” Go said. (PNA)