MANILA (Updated 3:04 p.m.) — Indonesia has assured the Philippines of a steady supply of coal, the Philippine energy minister said on Tuesday.
“We have assurance, and we are good partners,” Energy Secretary Sharon Garin told a news briefing.
- The Philippines plans to temporarily increase coal-fired generation amid energy pressures, Garin said.
- The country’s fuel supply remains manageable and the government is working to procure 1 million barrels of oil from countries within and outside Southeast Asia to build its buffer stock.
- The Philippines has around 45 days of fuel supply based on current consumption levels, Garin said.
- The Philippines has Southeast Asia’s most coal-dependent power grid.
- After ramping up LNG-fired generation, Manila was poised in 2025 for its first decline in coal power in nearly two decades, but rising LNG costs are forcing it to turn back to coal.
- Indonesia supplied half of all global thermal coal exports in 2025, and is the top coal supplier to many of the world’s largest coal importing nations.
—Reporting by Karen Lema; Editing by John Mair, Martin Petty
