Join team to probe disruption of natural gas supply to Singpore
The Jakarta Post, Denpasar
Oil and Gas Upstream Regulatory Body (BP Migas) said that a special team consisting of personnel from Jakarta and Singapore had been formed to investigate the disruption of the natural gas supply from West Natuna Island to Singapore, which caused a two- hour blackout in many parts of the city-state late on Tuesday.
BP Migas operational director Trijana Kartoatmodjo said on Wednesday that the team consisted of officials from ConocoPhilips (one of the operators of the West Natuna gas block) and SembGas (one of the gas buyers in Singapore).
But he was quick to add that the disruption in the gas supply was caused by problems at a receiving terminal in Jurong, Singapore, which led to the emergency shut down of the facility.
"Immediate actions were taken to determine the cause of the emergency shut down (ESD) to isolate any potentially unsafe conditions and to ultimately reestablish flow on stand-by equipment," Trijana told reporters, adding that the gas supply was fully available again after two hours.
Trijana said Singapore did not file a protest against Indonesia because the disruption occurred on Singapore's end.
The natural gas is supplied through a 600-kilometer transmission pipeline from West Natuna island. During normal operations, the supply can reach 350 million cubic feet of gas daily (MMSCFD). The natural gas is supplied by a number of production-sharing contractors such as ConocoPhilips, Star Energy and Premier Oil.
Power generating units at three companies in Singapore - Tuas Power, Seraya Power and SembCorp Cogen - shut down late on Tuesday after experiencing a decline in gas pressure, causing the blackout, which extended to roads and elevators of residential buildings. The incident occurred amid fears of a terrorist attack in the region.
Electricity was fully restored around midnight.
This is the third time in two years that Singapore has faced a disruption in its gas supply from Natuna, and the second time the disruption has caused an extensive blackout.
The last time Singapore experienced an extensive blackout was in August 2002, after which the cause of the gas supply disruption was blamed on the natural gas system design. Another power supply disruption of a similar magnitude in Singapore occurred 10 years ago.
In 2002, gas to seven power generating plants in Singapore was disrupted by an automatic closure of an emergency safety shutdown valve.
What could now be perceived as an unstable gas supply system will again raise the issue of over-reliance on piped natural gas, and whether Singapore should consider building a liquefied natural gas facility to diversify its gas supply sources beyond Indonesia and Malaysia, Dow Jones reported.