Singapore Power develops facilities to anticipate S. Sumatra gas delivery
Wednesday, July 17 2002 - 08:05 AM WIB
The first natural gas delivery from Sumatra will supplement the current import by Singapore's SembCorp Gas, a unit of SembCorp Industries Ltd., of 325 million cubic feet of gas a day from the West Natuna Sea.
At an official ceremony, Singapore Minister of State for Foreign Trade and Industry Raymond Lim congratulated PowerGas for the commencement work on the Sakra natural gas facility, which is expected to be completed by August next year.
Singapore's demand for natural gas is expected to rise "in tandem with growth in electricity consumption and alternative uses," Lim said.
Currently, about 90 percent of the imported gas is for power generation, Lim said, adding that almost 40 percent of Singapore's electricity demand is met by combined-cycle gas turbine technology, which utilizes natural gas.
"We expect this to increase to 50 percent by 2004," Lim said in his speech, in which he also cited competitive and environmental benefits of increased natural gas utilization.
But industry sources said they are not entirely confident that natural gas from South Sumatra will be delivered as scheduled to the new gas station.
The stake sale of Transco I, a unit of gas pipeline operating and distributing firm PT Perusahan Gas Negara, or PGN, remains to be finalized, raising concerns over the completion of the Indonesia-Singapore gas pipeline.
Transco I is developing the South Sumatra-Singapore gas pipeline, which will deliver about US$9 billion worth of natural gas over 22 years to Singapore starting in 2003.
"It would most likely be awarded in August," said an official with a company vying for a stake in Transco I.
A PGN official co-ordinating the pipeline construction, in response to a query from Dow Jones Newswires, said all tenders involved in the pipeline work have been awarded, and onshore construction "is in progress." (*)