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.