Gas’s role in the country’s energy transition must be reviewed following the depleting supply of the Malampaya Gas field and the tightening of the supply market due to the Russia-Ukraine war, a think tank group said. 

In a report by BusinessWorld, Center for Energy, Ecology, and Development (CEED) deputy executive director Avril de Torres said that securing renewable energy sources in the country, especially in the Luzon Grid has been a recurring problem since 2016. 

Gas has been dubbed as a relatively clean “transition fuel” as the country moves its way to renewable energy sources. Malampaya, which covers a fifth of the country’s power needs, was only able to produce 79.054 billion cubic feet of natural gas in 2021, a huge decline from its production in 2020. 

De Torres said that the yellow and red alerts experienced in the country are due to coal-fired power plants and gas-fired power plants undergoing shutdowns and deration due to restrictions on the Malampaya. 

The think tank official said that yellow alerts would occur every time “there is a Malampaya gas restriction.” 

The Malampaya is seen to be completely depleted by the first quarter of 2027. Prime Infrastructure Capital Inc., which recently acquired a major stake in the gas field, is looking to investing Malampaya’s Service Contract 38.