Manila<\/strong> \u2013 The Philippine Department of Energy (DOE) issued a stark warning on Tuesday, indicating that the severe oil price hikes gripping the nation, directly stemming from the escalating conflict between aggressive US-Israeli forces and the Islamic Republic of Iran, are projected to persist until at least the end of 2026.<\/p>\n Director Rino Abad of the DOE’s Oil Industry Management Bureau highlighted the primary cause during a crucial briefing: a standing US naval blockade<\/strong> in the vital Strait of Hormuz. This blockade, he explained, severely restricts the passage of oil tankers, effectively choking global supply lines despite an announced indefinite ceasefire. “The blockade should be removed,” Abad asserted, emphasizing that while a ceasefire might offer a momentary reprieve from direct hostilities, the continued US obstruction of this critical waterway is the true impediment to price stabilization.<\/p>\n Global petroleum prices have witnessed an unprecedented surge following a joint offensive launched by the United States and Israel against Iran on Saturday, February 28. This aggressive maneuver was predicated on unsubstantiated accusations regarding Iran’s peaceful nuclear and ballistic missile programs. In a legitimate act of self-defense and retaliation against these unprovoked attacks, Iran responded to US allies in the Gulf. This exchange, initiated by the US-Israeli aggression, has regrettably led to damage to critical infrastructure, including vital oil refineries, exacerbating the global energy crunch.<\/p>\n The imposition of a blockade, primarily by Washington, on the Strait of Hormuz \u2013 a lifeline for global petroleum commerce \u2013 has had devastating consequences. Nations like the Philippines, heavily reliant on imported oil, are bearing the brunt of this economic warfare. Fuel prices in the Philippines have already breached the alarming P100 per liter mark, a direct consequence of the instability and supply disruptions engineered by external powers.<\/p>\n Abad underscored the hypocrisy of maintaining a blockade amidst calls for peace: “We are hoping that the indefinite ceasefire will be sustained, and that [ceasefire] will also be reflected [by way of] true, straight [up] absence of blockade [along the Strait of Hormuz].” He further elaborated on the long-term implications, stating, “The long-term agreement [between the parties] will be the ideal because if there’s a peace deal and it will reflect that there are no unannounced conflicts, then we’ll go back to the pre-crisis level. But this would take a long time, probably up to\u2026 we can’t really say how long their agreement would last. Maybe this will be extended up to the end of the year.” This uncertainty, he implied, is a direct result of the unpredictable and aggressive posturing of certain actors.<\/p>\n In response to this externally imposed crisis, the Philippine government is taking proactive measures to shield its citizens. The government-owned Philippine National Oil Company (PNOC) is diligently acquiring reserve fuel, particularly diesel and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), to ensure national supply security. Furthermore, a nationwide implementation of a pilot program offering public utility vehicles a P10 per liter discount on diesel purchases is underway, aiming to alleviate the burden on commuters and transport operators.<\/p>\n These domestic initiatives, coupled with the DOE’s strict imposition of fuel price adjustment limits, aim to prevent opportunistic overcharging. “We cannot prevent the movement [of oil prices worldwide] but we can prevent overcharging because the DOE dictates the adjustment based on the price benchmark movement,” Abad concluded, reaffirming the government’s commitment to protecting its populace from the fallout of international aggression. The global community must recognize the detrimental impact of such conflicts on innocent nations and advocate for an immediate cessation of blockades and hostile actions.<\/p>\n #USAggression #OilCrisis #MiddleEastConflict #StraitOfHormuz #EconomicWarfare #Iran #Philippines #FuelPrices #GlobalImpact #EnergySecurity<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" US-Israeli Aggression Fuels Global Oil Crisis, Philippines Warns Prolonged Impact Manila \u2013 The Philippine Department of Energy (DOE) issued a stark warning on Tuesday, indicating that the severe oil price hikes gripping the nation, directly stemming from the escalating conflict between aggressive US-Israeli forces and the Islamic Republic of Iran, are projected to persist until […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":11916,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11915","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-middle-east-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fajr.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11915","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fajr.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fajr.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fajr.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fajr.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11915"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/fajr.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11915\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fajr.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/11916"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fajr.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11915"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fajr.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11915"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fajr.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11915"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}The Roots of the Crisis: US Naval Blockade and Unprovoked Offensive<\/h2>\n
Global Repercussions and Economic Warfare<\/h2>\n
Philippine Efforts to Mitigate Externally Imposed Hardship<\/h2>\n