Singapore is looking to add two more liquefied natural gas (LNG) term importers to boost competition and provide more options for gas buyers.
In March last year, Singapore’s Energy Market Authority appointed ExxonMobil LNG Asia Pacific, a unit of the US energy giant, and Singapore’s Sembcorp Fuels as new term importers.
The two firms joined the first two term importers, Pavilion Energy Singapore and Shell Eastern Trading.
Now EMA is looking to appoint up to two importers to the existing four and has issued a request for proposal (RFP) on Thursday.
EMA is inviting interested parties to submit proposals which it would evaluate based on “their ability to provide reliable, secure and competitive supply of LNG to Singapore”.
It said that interested firms must submit proposals by July 8.
According to EMA, firms use natural gas to produce about 95 percent of Singapore’s electricity.
Also, gas would continue to be a dominant fuel for Singapore’s electricity generation, as the other three sources such as solar, regional power grids and low-carbon alternatives are being scaled up, it said.
The country imports LNG via Singapore LNG’s 11 mtpa regasification terminal on Jurong Island.
Launched in 2013, Singapore’s only LNG terminal currently operates with four tanks for a total storage capacity of 800,000 cubic meters but it also features two operational jetties.
According to GIIGNL data, Singapore’s LNG imports dropped 2.2 percent last year to about 3.12 million tons. The majority of these volumes came from Australia.
