Camarines Sur 2nd district Rep. LRay said he is "disgusted" by the Department of Energy (DOE) officials' lack of urgency with their proposed strategic petroleum reserve (SPR), which could have eased Filipinos' worries over the raging Russia-Ukraine conflict.

“I am disgusted by our energy officials’ utter lack of a sense of urgency in doing nothing except to prepare to do a study on the SPR that the DOE has been talking about for almost two years now,” Villafuerte said in a statement Saturday, Feb. 26.

“Look, they are not even studying it; they are still in the preparatory stage on how to go about conducting such a study. I am afraid it is taking the DOE so long to consider the SPR, let alone set it up, to the point that the Philippines might have switched to e-vehicles or hybrid cars already by the time a strategic petroleum reserve is up and running in the country," he said, his sarcasm evident.

Oil producer Russia's recent invasion of Ukraine has sent shockwaves around the world, as world crude price has already breached the $100-per-barrel level. It is expected to race toward $120 as Russia’s "military operation" progresses.

“What kind of catastrophe are our energy officials waiting for to happen before they finally come to their senses and put this SPR plan on the fast track?” asked Villafuerte, who had backed almost two years ago the DOE’s plan to set up a national oil reserve.

He noted that although DOE officials had assured the public that the Philippines would not be directly affected by the Russia-Ukraine conflict, they nonetheless warned of a continued rise in fuel prices as a result.

Rino Abad, director of the Department of Energy’s Oil Industry Management Bureau (OIMB), said oil prices were already high, given the insufficient daily production and the uncertainty over the Ukrainian crisis.

“Rather than taking their own sweet time about their SPR plan to help stabilize the domestic supply and prices of petroleum products, energy officials should start working triple time on the long-planned establishment of a national fuel reserve, more so now when the full-blown Russia-Ukraine conflict has raised fears that the global cost of oil could go up to as high as $120 per barrel in the days or weeks ahead,” Villafuerte said.

The former House deputy speaker further said that DOE officials "must drop their lackadaisical approach and put this strategic petroleum reserve plan in motion in preparation for future conflicts, supply hitches or any other geopolitical developments or catastrophes that could drive fuel prices...up north anew beyond the reach of ordinary Filipinos".