S'pore expects natural gas from Indonesia in December

S'pore expects natural gas from Indonesia in December

SINGAPORE (DPA): The first supplies of Indonesian natural gas to Singapore are expected in December or six months ahead of schedule with the completion of a 640 kilometer undersea pipeline, it was reported on Wednesday.

The pipeline connecting the city-state with the West Natuna fields "is ready and the first delivery is in December," The Business Times quoted a source as saying.

SembCorp Gas, which is purchasing 325 million standard cubic feet daily of Natuna gas from Indonesia's Pertamina under a 22- year agreement, confirmed it is ready to deliver to its customers on Jurong Island "ahead of schedule."

Pertamina and Malaysia's Petronas struck a preliminary deal last week for deliveries from West Natuna starting in 2002. Petronas only needs to build a new 40-km pipeline from its Duyong gas field to connect to West Natuna.

The link is regarded as strategic since it will be part of the proposed Trans-ASEAN Gas Pipeline grid linking the region.

"Such a link will open up markets to producers like Malaysia and Indonesia, and provide better and cheaper supplies to countries like Thailand and the Philippines," an industry consultant told the newspaper.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) groups 10 countries.

Singapore's purchase agreement with Indonesia is expected to generate some US$8 billion for the beleaguered country.

A second Singapore-Indonesian gas deal is being negotiated between Singapore Gas, a unit of Singapore Power, and Pertamina involving the supply of 350 million standard cubic feet of gas daily from the Asamera field in Sumatra.