Sembcorp finally gets new Natuna gas supply [News]

By Ronnie Lim, The Business Times, 4 Jan 2011.

Earlier-delayed piped gas supplies from Natuna under Sembcorp’s new, second Indonesian gas supply agreement (GSA) are now flowing into Singapore.

‘Commissioning has been completed and gas is flowing according to contractual entitlement,’ a Sembcorp spokesman told BT yesterday.

This comes as sources say a breakthrough is in sight this quarter on a complicated Indonesian gas swap deal involving many parties, and which will see some current Singapore-destined piped gas being diverted to Batam to help meet urgent domestic needs there.

Indonesian reports in mid-December had said that the swap plan – which had been given approval by the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry – was in limbo. Read more

Managing Singapore’s LNG import model [News]

By The Business Times, 27 Dec 2011.

It is worth noting that even as Singapore’s piped gas importers and their foreign gasfield suppliers are working out a swap arrangement proposed by Indonesia – aimed at diverting some Singapore-destined supplies to meet urgent domestic needs there – the Republic is starting to look at how it wants to procure future LNG supplies.

The writing is on the wall: piped gas supplies from neighbouring countries – whose own gas needs are increasing just as their domestic gas production is slowing – will dry up sooner rather than later, perhaps even before Singapore’s long-term gas supply agreements (GSAs) with Indonesia and Malaysia expire. Read more

Swap plan delays extra gas shipments to S’pore [News]

By Ronnie Lim, The Business Times, 24 Oct 2011.

Supplies of additional Indonesian piped gas to Singapore – earlier scheduled to begin arriving here from Oct 1 – are being held up, amid ongoing discussions over an Indonesian gas swap plan aimed at catering to domestic gas needs.

As a result of gas pipeline connection issues, the Indonesians want to use the existing Sumatra-Singapore pipeline, which runs through Batam, to divert some current Singapore gas supplies to a new power plant on the Indonesian island, with this made up for with gas from West Natuna instead.

But the swap is complicated as it involves two different gasfield operators, two separate Singapore gas importers, as well as different pipeline operators. Read more

Extra Indonesia piped gas to be delivered soon [News]

By Ronnie Lim, The Business Times, 3 Oct 2011.

The first deliveries of additional Indonesian piped gas supplies to Singapore will start this month, sources said. The extra 86 million standard cubic feet daily (mscfd) of gas is being brought in by Sembcorp Gas under a second gas supply agreement (GSA) it struck in April 2008, over three years ago.

The deal remains intact, despite recent calls by Indonesian officials for the country’s gas exports to be reduced and redirected to meet growing domestic needs.

The latest incoming gas supplies will add about 12 per cent to Singapore’s current gas imports from Indonesia.

Under an earlier GSA, SembGas is already bringing in some 325-340 mscfd also from the Natuna gasfields operated by ConocoPhillips and Premier Oil. Read more

Indonesia won’t cut gas supply to Singapore [News]

By Wahyudi Soeriaatmadja and Zakir Hussain, The Straits Times, 30 Sep 2011.

INDONESIA will not cut its supply of natural gas to Singapore nor change the price, officials said yesterday, a week after a minister suggested that the country should stop its gas exports.

What it will change, however, is the source of gas: It will come from the Natuna Sea in the north instead of South Sumatra, where Singapore’s gas is piped from now.

‘There won’t be any change in the volume, only in the source,’ the spokesman for the country’s upstream oil and gas regulator BPMigas, Mr Gde Pradnyana, told The Straits Times yesterday.

‘It should start in October. We hope to get government approval before then,’ he added, but declined to give further details on why the switch is being done. Read more

Cut natural gas exports to Singapore: Indonesian minister [News]

By Wahyudi Soeriaatmadja, Indonesian Correspondent, The Straits Times, 22 Sep 2011.

JAKARTA: Indonesia’s top economic minister Hatta Rajasa yesterday urged the government to cut what he called excessive natural gas shipments to Singapore because they were hurting domestic industries, which do not have enough supplies to meet their growing needs.

‘Indonesia needs its own gas,’ he told a parliamentary commission that oversees the energy sector.

‘The gas supply to Singapore is too much… Exports to Singapore should stop,’ he added. Read more

Decision on gas market could come in a year [News]

By Ronnie Lim, The  Business Times, 5 Aug 2011.

The decision whether to liberalise Singapore’s town gas market – which was supposed to have been made by last year – could now come 12 months down the road, sources tell BT.

If the government’s go-ahead is given, it will be a challenging and lengthy, drawn-out exercise – as it involves conversion of town gas-fuelled appliances, like cookers and heaters, of 630,000 residential customers alone (not counting industrial ones) to work with natural gas, as well as conversion of the town gas pipelines.

The estimates are that this will take 6-7 years in all to complete and cost over S$320 million. Read more

Senoko to produce greener power with new turbines [News]

A new gas turbine that will help make electricity generator Senoko Energy a cleaner and greener power producer has arrived from Japan.

The turbine is the first of two from Mitsubishi Heavy Industries.

The other will be here within three months, and both will be fully operational by the second half of next year.

Their combined capacity of 860 megawatts will replace the existing three boiler turbines of 750-megawatt capacity, said a Senoko statement. Read more

Singapore, a regional natural gas hub? [News]

Abundant enough to sustain world production for over 250 years and available all over the world, natural gas produces one of the lowest levels of carbon emissions when burnt for electricity production.

And Singapore is well-positioned to be a regional natural gas hub, said Dr Birol Fatih, chief economist of the International Energy Agency (IEA).

Natural gas was one of the main topics touched on by Dr Birol, who spoke at the Energy Market Authority’s (EMA) Distinguished Speaker Programme, which was attended by nearly 300 industry players in the energy sector. Read more

IEA Chief Economist offers a look at our energy future

The era of cheap oil is over, and policies fall short of what is needed for a secure and sustainable energy future, says Dr Fatih Birol, Chief Economist of the International Energy Agency, in his lecture titled “A Glimpse into the Energy Fututre” at today’s EMA Distinguished Speaker Programme. This lecture is jointly organised by the Energy Market Authority and the Energy Studies Institute.

Era of cheap oil is over

Dr Birol shares that the era of cheap oil is over because of structural changes, and there is growing risk that the upturn in oil prices could undermine economic recovery.

On the demand side, strong growth from the transportation sector due to booming demand for mobility in emerging economies drives up oil use. The global car fleet continue to surge as more people in China and other emerging economies buy a car. Read more

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