Follow Singapore Immigration and Singapore Economic news: In order to benefit from a more competitive and transparent natural gas pricing environment, Singapore will relax the import methods for liquefied natural gas, allowing two new importers to introduce liquefied gas in bulk.
Minister of the Prime Minister's Office and Second Minister for Home Affairs and Trade and Industry, Janil Puthucheary, announced at the second Gas Asia Summit that the Energy Market Authority will initiate a Request for Proposal for a two-phase plan regarding the "post 3 million tons era" of small-scale liquefied gas imports early next year, marking the end of the BG Singapore monopoly import model that has existed since 2008.
In the first phase, interested importers can propose how they plan to secure the stability and price competitiveness of liquefied gas supply for Singapore through diversification of sources, price indices, and contract lengths, with the Energy Market Authority selecting no more than three. In the second phase, selected importers will have six months to sign sales contracts with potential buyers and submit a baseline agreement for future buyers' consideration to the Energy Market Authority. The Energy Market Authority intends to commence the solicitation activity in the first quarter of next year, ultimately selecting up to two importers, with the new supply expected to enter the market as early as 2016 or 2017.
Furthermore, from the perspective of energy security, Singapore cannot solely rely on liquefied gas to meet domestic demand; therefore, the Energy Market Authority also intends to lift the piped gas import moratorium. Janil Puthucheary also pointed out that the initial imposition of the piped gas import moratorium was to ensure the emerging liquefied gas market could grow, but in the future, the market needs to be opened to allow different sources of natural gas to enter, ensuring market competitiveness.
