TURNING POINT: An Unwelcome Breather

NAAWAN, Misamis Oriental (MindaNews / 21 June) – The escalating Israel-Iran war is choking the supply of oil from the Middle East and will spike the prices of fossil fuels worldwide.

In the Philippines, the war could push fuel prices up by as much as P4.80 per liter next week, according to the Department of Energy. Gasoline may go up by P2.50 to P3 per liter, while diesel could see a larger increase of P4.30 to P4.80 per liter. Diesel is the primary fuel in land and sea transport. Its skyrocketing price could trigger high inflation, reduced production, and a reduction in demand for labor, goods, and services.

The limited supply to the market spikes the cost of oil and everything dependent on it in the production and delivery of products and services. Not only industrial productivity but also agricultural production will experience a slack.

The developing countries would suffer the most from the looming worldwide stagflation, and the plight of poor families in the labor force, fishery, and workers in agriculture, would worsen. The daily challenge of putting food on the family table would be direly difficult.

The great beneficiaries of the oil crisis are Russia and Venezuela.

Europe’s thirst for oil will be quenched by Russia’s unlimited supply of fossil fuels, to include petro gas. The sanction on Russia’s products and economic enterprises arising from its unprovoked invasion of Ukraine will be necessarily lifted. Happy times for Russia’s oil tycoons are here again.

Venezuela, which accordingly has the biggest oil reserves in the whole world, may fill in what oil gap caused by the tension in the Middle East. It would supply oil not just for the American continent but for all other users elsewhere.

Meanwhile, the choke in the oil supply and the exorbitant cost of petro products may yet impact positively on our fast-darkening world. The air will be cleaner in the absence of toxic fossil oil pollutants. It will be free from smug of carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide. People start walking distances again and improve their health and general well-being.

And we will have a breather from global warming and climate change.

(MindaViews is the opinion section of MindaNews. William R. Adan, Ph.D., is retired professor and former chancellor of Mindanao State University at Naawan, Misamis Oriental.)