A former senior undersecretary of the Department of Energy (DOE) has been designated by President Rodrigo Duterte as President of state-run Philippine National Oil Company (PNOC).

According to the DOE, former Energy Undersecretary Jesus Cristino Posadas officially took over as PNOC President since February 23 this year – leaving his post from the energy department which he served from 2016. The PNOC top post has been vacant following the passing of Admiral Reuben Lista last year.

An engineer by profession, Posadas holds the distinction of being a “certified national energy management system (EnMS)/ISO 50001 expert;” as accorded by the DOE and United Nations Industrial Development Organization.

Posadas graduated from the University of the Philippines with a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, and took up further studies from the De La Salle Graduate School of Business with a Masters degree in Business Administration.

At the DOE, he handled key assignments overseeing the power industry – including the smart grid goals of the country and its targeted foray into electric mobility -- as among the transformative phases that the energy sector would be traversing moving forward.

In his more than three months of stint at PNOC, it is expected that Posadas will continue the conduct of feasibility study on the country’s long-desired plunge into having a strategic petroleum reserve (SPR) or oil stockpiling.

With him at the helm of the state-run company, it is eyed that collaborative partnership with the government of Japan for the SPR study will be reinforced prior to the end of the Duterte administration.

It had been previously cast that the capital spending needed for the planned oil stockpiling would command investment of up to P37.2 billion – but it remains a puzzle as to which institution will be undertaking such mammoth project.

Based on previously presented blueprint covering construction and maintaining the scale of petroleum reserves for the first year with a capacity of 30 million barrels of crude oil, diesel fuel and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), the estimated investment will be huge and the government may not be able to afford it given the colossal debts that the Philippines will be paying in the years to come.

It has to be noted also that the proposed SPR is coming at a time when the world is traversing an oil crisis because of historic high prices that breached US$131 per barrel this week.

Among the initial plans floated by PNOC will be pursuing studies on the planned SPR – including an option for an interim floating storage facility.

In past studies, the major question raised had been on an economically and technically viable entity that shall manage the SPR – whether such must be done by the government or it could be better placed under the control of the private sector.

A paramount concern is the source of funding and how the SPR can stay afloat given that the oil industry in the Philippines is perennially assaulted with political agendas that at times could skew pricing dynamics and policies in the sector.