Minister Bahlil Addresses Power Outages and Coal Supply for Power Plants

Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Bahlil Lahadalia described global geopolitical developments as akin to a ‘malaria’ disease, fluctuating and impacting the global economy. Amidst this global uncertainty, Indonesia still needs to import 1 million barrels of crude oil per day due to declining domestic oil and gas lifting. This situation is attributed to ageing oil wells, and to increase lifting, three measures can be taken: utilising technology, accelerating exploration of oil and gas wells in Eastern Indonesia with 118 potential new blocks, and reactivating idle wells. Bahlil also noted that Indonesia currently consumes 39 million kilolitres of diesel. To reduce diesel imports, the government is promoting downstream palm oil processing through the development of B50 biodiesel, set to commence on 1 July 2026. Furthermore, with petrol consumption reaching 40 million kilolitres, efforts are needed to curb imports from Singapore and Malaysia. Bahlil confirmed the government will not increase subsidised fuel prices, with energy subsidies reaching Rp 200-250 trillion, aimed at protecting the poor. Regarding the recent increase in non-subsidised fuel prices, he stated this was reasonable as the users are wealthy. For LPG, annual consumption stands at 8.5 million tonnes against a production of only 1.8 million tonnes, leading to an annual foreign exchange drain of Rp 150 trillion for imports, prompting the government to promote Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) as an alternative. Bahlil also addressed recent power outages experienced by PLN in several regions, linking them to coal utilisation and stressing that coal procurement must be secured to ensure electricity supply resilience.