S'pore gas import studied

S'pore gas import studied

SINGAPORE (AFP): Eleven foreign firms have bid to become Singapore government consultants looking into importing natural gas in liquefied or piped form for power stations and households, an official said.

Power-guzzling Singapore at present imports gas via a pipeline from neighboring Malaysia and is discussing buying natural gas from Indonesia's petroleum giant Pertamina.

Officials said the appointed consultant, apart from other works, "will provide comprehensive information on all sizable known and potential sources of exportable gas supplies, and identify suitable sites in Singapore for the gas receiving stations and liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminal."

Under the LNG process, the natural gas found in the field has first to be liquefied via a cooling process, to enable it to be transported by special LNG tankers to customers' import terminals and receiving stations, where the LNG is reconverted to gaseous form.

Building a liquefaction-cum-receiving terminal could cost about US$5 billion, industry sources said.