By Gabriell Christel Galang
Published Sep 18, 2026
The Department of Energy (DOE) and the Philippine National Oil Company (PNOC) are evaluating a larger site in Zamboanga to host a massive strategic oil reserve, following land area and acquisition hurdles at the originally planned location.
During a Senate budget hearing on Thursday, Sept. 17, Energy Undersecretary Alessandro Sales said the DOE recently met with the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) and Saudi Aramco regarding a commercial facility to store and distribute petroleum products across the region.
“It gives us flexibility in managing our national petroleum reserve. We could either build alongside them to save on storage tank costs, or enter into an agreement to access their supply so we don't have to spend on building tanks at all,” Sales said.
The DOE identified a location in Zamboanga capable of accommodating the required scale, likely ruling out Northern Mindanao. The agency, alongside PNOC, is set to conduct a joint site evaluation to assess the property.
The agency’s immediate focus is finding a suitable location for the fuel infrastructure, which requires 500 hectares of land to support a 50-million-barrel reserve. Sales explained that large-scale facilities require roughly 10 hectares per one million barrels to accommodate safety buffers, spacing, and drainage.
While a site in Bataan owned by PNOC was considered, the 150-hectare property is too small for the full 50-million-barrel scale—though PNOC is using it to build a separate facility capable of housing one million barrels of product.
Meanwhile, in the upstream sector, 14 petroleum service contracts recently signed by the President are expected to unlock $324 million in potential investments.
According to Energy Undersecretary Giovanni Bacordo, successful drilling at the Camago 3 and Malampaya East 1 wells under Service Contract 38 yielded an estimated 222 billion cubic feet of gas, extending field operations through 2034 and securing enough fuel to power 13.1 million homes for a year.
