31/03/2026

BIZ & FINANCE TUESDAY | MAR 31, 2026

/thesuntelegram FOLLOW / Malaysian Paper

ON TELEGRAM m RAM

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Crude rises, stocks drop as Houthis enter Iran war

Philippine oil refinery secures 2.5 million barrels of Russian crude

MANILA: The Philippines’ sole oil refinery has secured nearly 2.5 million barrels of Russian crude out of “extreme necessity”, a stock exchange filing revealed yesterday, as the country seeks to replenish fast-dwindling fuel reserves. The Philippines has seen the price of fuel hit historic highs since the US-Israeli war with Iran forced the partial closure of the Strait of Hormuz, with President Ferdinand Marcos most recently saying stocks could last until June 30. AFP reported last week that a tanker filled with Russian crude oil had arrived at the harbour servicing refinery operator Petron Corp, a purchase unthinkable before longtime treaty ally the United States eased sanctions tied to Moscow’s war in Ukraine. In a report to the Philippine stock exchange released yesterday, Petron said it had agreed to purchase Russian crude after seeing at least four million barrels in shipments cancelled since the start of the Middle East war. “The purchases were undertaken strictly out of extreme necessity as an extraordinary emergency measure in response to unprecedented geopolitical and supply-chain disruptions and only after exhausting all commercially and operationally viable alternatives,“ the report reads. “A refinery shutdown for failure to secure crude would lead to serious nationwide fuel shortages and sharp price spikes,“ said the company, whose refinery accounts for about 30 percent of the country’s fuel needs. Since the war began, the cost of diesel and gasoline has skyrocketed, driving protests by groups representing the country’s jeepney drivers and others. Prices were set to tick up again today. The United States earlier this month eased some restrictions on sales of Russian crude, allowing countries to purchase oil that was already at sea until April 11. The Philippines’ Department of Energy last week announced the arrival of 142,000 barrels of government-procured diesel, part of its target of “up to two million barrels of additional supply for the country”. Energy Secretary Sharon Garin told AFP that shipment had come from Japan. – AFP Bangladesh turns off DHAKA: Bangladesh has ordered civil servants to switch off the lights and turn down air conditioning to save power as the Mideast war worsens an energy crunch, officials said yesterday. The South Asian nation of 170 million people imports 95% of its oil and gas needs. The Ministry of Public Administration issued a string of orders regarding office attendance and saving electricity and fuel, ministry official Sakhawat Hossain told AFP on Monday. “Only the necessary number of lights, fans, air conditioners, and other electrical equipment should be used”, the order issued late on Sunday read. It also reminded workers to turn off the lights when they leave, and ordered that air conditioning temperatures must be set at 25°C or warmer. Bangladesh has said it is seeking loans of around US$2 billion from multilateral donors to tackle energy worries. The government has already taken several measures to curb fuel consumption, including setting limits on fuel purchases, halting production at most fertiliser factories, and deploying police to patrol filling stations. – AFP lights as energy crunch deepens

“Higher short-term inflation expectations, volatility in the interest rate markets, and growing concerns around supply shortages/inventory and the subsequent impact on the March/April economic data series and corporate earnings is now front and centre,” he added. “The Houthi’s ability to disrupt shipping through the Bab al-Mandeb strait, which accounts for roughly 12% of global trade, is the new key risk” he said, referring to the waterway between Yemen and the Horn of Africa. “Any meaningful disruption, married with a sharp rise in insurance costs, could drive another leg higher in crude and further pressure risk assets.” The selling came after a relatively calm period last week after Trump delayed until next month a threatened attack on Iran’s energy infrastructure citing progress in talks with Tehran. Skye Masters at National Australia Bank said: “Trump’s decision to extend the pause in Iran’s energy sector ... has clearly not been enough to support investor sentiment where the focus is turning to the global economic impact of such a shock – this is now not just about the price of oil it includes fertiliser, petrochemicals, metals.” And Benjamin Jones, global head of research at Invesco, warned: “Without a material shift in tone from the US or Iran, we expect oil to move higher, equities to weaken further, and the dollar to remain firm.” – AFP

the oil in Iran” and could take the country’s Kharg Island “very easily”. Kharg Island, located off the west coast of Iran, is a vital oil terminal for the country and is being eyed by the Pentagon for ground operations, though the United States insisted it would stop short of a full-scale invasion. “Maybe we take Kharg Island, maybe we don’t. We have a lot of options,” he told the FT. “It would also mean we had to be there for a while.” While Pakistan said Sunday it was ready to broker and host “meaningful talks” between Washington and Tehran to end the war, Iran’s parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said the United States was “secretly planning a ground attack”. The surge in oil prices and the prospect of an extended conflict put more pressure on equities amid fears about a surge in inflation that could hit the world economy. Tokyo sank more than 4% and Seoul more than 3% before paring the losses while Hong Kong, Sydney, Mumbai, Bangkok, Wellington, Taipei, Jakarta and Manila were also down. London edged up but, Paris and Frankfurt were slightly lower. The losses followed a bad day on Wall Street, where all three main indexes tumbled after the United States and Israel struck Iranian nuclear sites. “The market is now reacting to higher crude pricing and towards the fallout in the economic consequences,” wrote Pepperstone’s Chris Weston.

HONG KONG: Oil prices rose and most stocks fell yesterday as the Middle East crisis escalated with the entry of Houthi rebels into the Iran war and investors grew increasingly concerned the United States would send in ground troops. As the conflict moved into its fifth week, the spectre of a widening conflict grew as Yemen’s Houthi rebels on Saturday said they had fired “a barrage of cruise missiles and drones” at strategic sites in Israel. The strikes raised concern about the war spreading to the Red Sea, with Saudi Arabia rerouting much of its oil exports there to avoid the Strait of Hormuz, through which about 20% of crude and gas passes and has been effectively closed by Tehran. The news sent the price of oil yesterday to its highest level since earlier in the month after the United States and Israel began their campaign against Iran. Both main contracts jumped more than 3% at one point, with Brent hitting close to US$117 a barrel, before easing back. Adding to the dour mood were US President Donald Trump’s remarks to the Financial Times (FT) that he wanted to “take o Investors increasingly concerned that America will send in ground troops Finance Minister Koo Yun-cheol said on Sunday the government could expand restrictions on passenger car use beyond public institutions if crude prices rise to around US$120–US$130 a barrel, up from the current US$100–US$110 range. If expanded to the entire public, the policy would mark the country’s first nationwide driving curbs since the 1991 Gulf War, when the government imposed a 10-day vehicle rotation system to conserve energy. “If the Middle East situation worsens, the crisis alert would have to move up to the ‘warning’ stage, and around that point we would need to curb consumption,“ Koo said on a local broadcast, referring to a move up to the third-highest level in the country’s four-stage resource security crisis alert system. He added the government may also consider further fuel tax cuts to ease the burden on households. The Finance Ministry said in a separate media release yesterday that mandatory driving curbs for the private sector remain undecided, adding that authorities would weigh energy supply conditions and broader economic factors before taking any action. South Korea imports about 70% of its crude oil from the Middle East, leaving the country highly exposed to supply disruptions and sharp price swings stemming from tensions in the region. The government last week enforced a mandatory five-day vehicle rotation system for the public sector, restricting vehicle use based on licence plate numbers.

South Korea considers nationwide driving curbs SEOUL: South Korea is considering extending driving curbs to the general public if global oil prices climb further, senior officials said, as authorities seek to rein in energy demand amid supply strains due to the US-Israeli war with Iran.

Cars line up at a gas station in Seoul. – REUTERSPIC

Energy Minister Kim Sung-whan said last Thursday authorities were reviewing tighter demand-management measures should the alert level rise further, including widening enforcement of driving curbs, while encouraging voluntary participation by companies and the financial sector. Major conglomerates such as Samsung

Electronics and SK Group have joined the effort, urging employees to cut back on private car use and adopt fuel-saving measures. Lawmakers and senior politicians have also taken to social media, posting about using public transport and bicycles to set an example and calling on the public to join energy-saving efforts. – Reuters