Singapore LNG terminal slated to be running by 2012
Singapore's liquified natural gas (LNG) terminal is on-track to be up and running by 2012 with the location to be announced in the coming weeks, a deputy director of the energy regulatory body said yesterday.
Full steam ahead: By 2018, EMA hopes to achieve a balance of two-thirds piped gas and one-third LNG
A 30-hectare, on-shore site has been chosen for the new terminal, Energy Market Authority (EMA) deputy director (standards branch) Ear Chow Foo said yesterday in a presentation at the Sea Asia conference.
Mr Ear declined to reveal the proposed location of the estimated $1 billion terminal as it is currently making its way through the approval process of the relevant bodies.
While both an off-shore and on-shore location were considered, Mr Ear said that the land-based option was chosen based on a number of considerations including safety, security and technology issues.
'Singapore is constrained by both sea and land limitations,' he noted, adding that the land-based option provided a better 'certainty of timing' in getting the facility built and operational.
The terminal will be built along the lines of a cost-sharing agreement between the government and the private sector, Mr Ear said.
He added that a future off-shore facility would not be ruled out, but the technology would need to mature before such a terminal would be considered.
Shipping traffic would also have to be evaluated at that point to determine if it was feasible to use what would amount to considerable sea-space for such a terminal.
The building of an LNG terminal - aimed at diversifying Singapore's energy supplies - will have spin-off effects for the local maritime industry including bunkering, ship repair, brokering and chartering and shipmanagement.
The LNG terminal will enable Singapore to source gas that is cheaper than that currently piped from Malaysia and Indonesia, which is based on the price of high sulphur fuel oil.
By 2018, EMA hopes to achieve a balance of two-thirds piped gas and one-third LNG.
The new terminal will have a capacity of 300,000 cubic metres, divided into two 150,000 cubic metre storage tanks in order to match the most common large LNG tanker currently. Two tanks also increases the operational efficiency of the facility, Mr Ear said.
The facility will not specifically be designed to handle the ultra-large LNG vessels known as QMax LNG carriers capable of carrying up to 265,000 cubic metres of gas compared with the current standard capable of carrying 147,000 cubic metres.
Mr Ear noted that only the Qatar Liquefied Gas Company has plans to utilise the QMax vessels.
Although the proposed site has a draft deep enough to cater to these vessels, there are design and cost implications for the jetty.
The world fleet of LNG vessels currently stands at 224 with another 145 on order, at an average cost of US$250 million each, according to Logan Chong, managing director, Shipping Finance at Societe Generale, who was also speaking at the conference. The current order book will require nearly US$35 billion in financing, according to Mr Chong.
Full steam ahead: By 2018, EMA hopes to achieve a balance of two-thirds piped gas and one-third LNG
A 30-hectare, on-shore site has been chosen for the new terminal, Energy Market Authority (EMA) deputy director (standards branch) Ear Chow Foo said yesterday in a presentation at the Sea Asia conference.
Mr Ear declined to reveal the proposed location of the estimated $1 billion terminal as it is currently making its way through the approval process of the relevant bodies.
While both an off-shore and on-shore location were considered, Mr Ear said that the land-based option was chosen based on a number of considerations including safety, security and technology issues.
'Singapore is constrained by both sea and land limitations,' he noted, adding that the land-based option provided a better 'certainty of timing' in getting the facility built and operational.
The terminal will be built along the lines of a cost-sharing agreement between the government and the private sector, Mr Ear said.
He added that a future off-shore facility would not be ruled out, but the technology would need to mature before such a terminal would be considered.
Shipping traffic would also have to be evaluated at that point to determine if it was feasible to use what would amount to considerable sea-space for such a terminal.
The building of an LNG terminal - aimed at diversifying Singapore's energy supplies - will have spin-off effects for the local maritime industry including bunkering, ship repair, brokering and chartering and shipmanagement.
The LNG terminal will enable Singapore to source gas that is cheaper than that currently piped from Malaysia and Indonesia, which is based on the price of high sulphur fuel oil.
By 2018, EMA hopes to achieve a balance of two-thirds piped gas and one-third LNG.
The new terminal will have a capacity of 300,000 cubic metres, divided into two 150,000 cubic metre storage tanks in order to match the most common large LNG tanker currently. Two tanks also increases the operational efficiency of the facility, Mr Ear said.
The facility will not specifically be designed to handle the ultra-large LNG vessels known as QMax LNG carriers capable of carrying up to 265,000 cubic metres of gas compared with the current standard capable of carrying 147,000 cubic metres.
Mr Ear noted that only the Qatar Liquefied Gas Company has plans to utilise the QMax vessels.
Although the proposed site has a draft deep enough to cater to these vessels, there are design and cost implications for the jetty.
The world fleet of LNG vessels currently stands at 224 with another 145 on order, at an average cost of US$250 million each, according to Logan Chong, managing director, Shipping Finance at Societe Generale, who was also speaking at the conference. The current order book will require nearly US$35 billion in financing, according to Mr Chong.
