Singapore: PM Officially Opens LNG Terminal

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong officially opened Singapore’s first Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) Terminal this evening, at a ceremony held at the Terminal on Jurong Island. Some 400 guests attended the event, marking a new chapter in Singapore’s energy security and the future development of Singapore’s energy sector.

The S$1.7 billion Terminal, which commenced operations on 7 May 2013, is owned and operated by Singapore LNG Corporation Pte Ltd (SLNG). It is a critical infrastructure that allows Singapore to import natural gas from around the world, thereby ensuring the security of supply sources to meet Singapore’s current and future energy demand. In 2013, more than 90% of the electricity in Singapore was generated using natural gas.

To date, some 18 LNG vessels have called at the Terminal, delivering more than 56 million MMBTUs (Million British Thermal Units), or about 1.08 million metric tonnes, of LNG to Singapore. The LNG, from BG Group’s portfolio, has been supplied from a number of sources including Equatorial Guinea, and Trinidad and Tobago.

The facility, which is designed to serve multiple terminal users, has the potential to support the growth of Singapore’s LNG sector, and the development of Singapore as an LNG hub for the region. It will help to catalyse LNG-related business opportunities and create new jobs in the energy sector. These include LNG trading, bunkering and vessel cool-down services.

John Ng, Chief Executive Officer of SLNG, said, “SLNG is proud to be given the responsibility of managing and operating such an important national infrastructure. We will focus our efforts to ensure that our facilities are designed, our plants are operated and our staff are trained to deliver the highest reliability and availability in sending out natural gas to the nation’s gas pipelines. I would like to thank our main stakeholders, the Ministry of Trade and Industry and the Energy Market Authority, for their tremendous support and guidance since the inception of the project; as well as our EPC contractor, Samsung C&T, for helping make this Terminal a reality.”

Update on Future Terminal Development

The Singapore LNG Terminal began operations in May 2013 with two storage tanks and an initial throughput capacity of 3.5 million tonnes per annum (Mtpa). The third tank and additional regasification facilities have been completed and are now operational, increasing the throughput capacity of the Terminal to 6 Mtpa. The Secondary Jetty is expected to be completed by the end of March 2014.

Plans are underway for the next phase of expansion of the Terminal, termed “Phase 3”, which will see the addition of a fourth tank and more facilities to bring the Terminal’s throughput capacity to at least 9 Mtpa. SLNG has started the tender process to select a suitably qualified contractor and the final investment decision, including the award of the Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) contract, is expected in the second quarter of 2014.

[mappress]
Press Release, February 25, 2014; Image: SLNG