Singapore to unveil LNG terminal plan
Singapore will soon have an LNG terminal, according to Ear Chow Foo, deputy director of the Republic’s Energy Market Authority. He told delegates at the Sea Asia conference in the yesterday that details would be released in two weeks’ time. Fairplay understands the terminal will have a jetty capable of handling Q-Flex vessels of 260,000m³. The terminal’s location is yet to be identified but its land holdings will be on a 30-hectare plot, Ear said. There will be two storage tanks. Although the proposal is for an on-shore terminal, an off-shore facility has not yet been ruled out “despite the constraints we face in sea-space,” Ear commented. Singapore has been seeking to secure a constant supply of gas. A massive power failure in 2003, caused by disruptions in the Natuna gas station in Indonesia, hammered home the importance of self-reliance. LNG is the preferred option as there are a number of suppliers. Singapore imports about 5M tonnes of LNG a year.