Global financial markets suffered their worst single-day rout in two years on Tuesday as the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz pushed Brent crude futures past $142 a barrel — a price not seen since the post-pandemic energy shock of 2012 — and triggered a broad flight to safe-haven assets.
The Philippine Stock Exchange Index (PSEi) fell 3.7 percent to close at 6,114, its lowest level since October 2024. The peso weakened to 61.40 per dollar before BSP intervention steadied the currency around 61.10.
The Oil Shock
Analysts at Goldman Sachs revised their 90-day Brent forecast upward to $165, noting that the strait’s closure removes approximately 17–19 million barrels per day of seaborne crude from global circulation — a supply shock with no immediate precedent outside wartime.
Saudi Arabia indicated it would partially reroute exports through the overland Petroline pipeline, which has a capacity of 5 million bpd, but acknowledged it would take 72 hours to ramp operations up to full capacity.
Philippine Pump Prices
The Department of Energy projected pump price increases of ₱7–12 per liter for gasoline and ₱9–14 per liter for diesel if the disruption lasts two weeks, on top of the ₱3.50 adjustment already implemented last week.
The IATF convened an emergency session to discuss activating the Oil Price Stabilization Fund (OPSF), which currently holds approximately ₱18 billion — enough to cushion prices for roughly three weeks at crisis-level consumption.