RI may supply LNG to Singapore

RI may supply LNG to Singapore

Indonesia said it is willing to supply liquefied natural gas to Singapore, which is examining the feasibility of setting up a terminal to import the fuel.

"If we can reach an agreement, we would be very keen to bring our gas to Singapore," said Iin Arifin Takhyan, Indonesia's director general of oil and gas, during the OSEA 2004 oil and gas conference in Singapore on Tuesday.

Natural gas, used to generate 60 percent of Singapore's power, is currently supplied through pipelines from gas fields in Malaysia and Indonesia.

The Energy Market Authority, Singapore's power regulator, is considering ways to diversify the country's gas supply after a power failure blacked out almost a third of Singapore in June.

Singapore's government last month asked Royal Dutch/Shell Group and four other companies to submit proposals for a feasibility study on the import of LNG.

The study is expected to start in January next year and be completed within 12 months, Vivian Balakrishnan, senior minister of state for trade and industry said in a speech at the conference's opening ceremony.

"With such infrastructure, we could import LNG to diversify our gas sources and also have the opportunity to develop a market for gas trading," Balakrishnan said.

"We hope to ride on Singapore's experience as an oil hub to establish a firm foundation to develop Singapore into a hub for gas." -- Bloomberg