Singapore may import liquefied gas to safeguard power supply:

Singapore may import liquefied gas to safeguard power supply:
report

Associated Press
Singapore

Singapore, stung by a blackout this week after piped gas
supplies from neighboring Indonesia were disrupted, could start
to import liquefied natural gas to further safeguard its power
supply, a report said on Thursday.

"We used to dependent only on oil, but the answer to systems
security is to diversify supply," said Khoo Chin Hean, chief
executive at Singapore's Energy Market Authority, according to
the Business Times newspaper.

"One of the things (we are) studying is the possible use of
liquefied natural gas," Khoo was quoted saying as officials from
the market regulator began to investigate the exact cause of
Tuesday's extensive power cut.

The blackout came after a valve in Singapore that regulates
the piped flow of gas from Indonesia's West Natuna fields shut
down. More than 300,000 households lost electricity for about two
hours as a result.

Singapore uses piped natural gas from Indonesia and Malaysia
for about 60 percent of its electricity generation. The balance
comes from using oil.

Adding liquefied natural gas - which could be imported in
tankers - to that mix would add a third source of supply.

The wealthy but resource-poor city-state prides itself on its
first-class infrastructure, and the power failure triggered
widespread irritation among the country's four million people.