The International Energy Agency (IEA) says Singapore is the most natural location to be the regional liquefied natural gas (LNG) hub.

Channel News Asia quoted IEA experts as saying that Singapore has advantages over its competitors in becoming the main regional LNG hub.

Singapore is on track to have its first operating LNG terminal costing 1.7 billion USD by the second quarter of 2013.

And it will also be the first LNG terminal in Asia to provide third-party access.

Singapore is also providing storage facilities for traders, which is important to promote a competitive market.

According to another expert, Warner ten Kate, Singapore has a government in place that provides the long-term signals for stability and hands-off market attitude. Further, the island country has the big financial players in place to support activities. What Singapore needs as a trader is a haven to allow the flexibility to arrive and Singapore has no competitor at the moment, Kate confirmed.

The experts stressed, while Shanghai (China) or Japan also has potential, they have so much more stuff to do at the same time than Singapore would have. “From our perspective, Singapore has the best starting position but needs to continue to work. So the things they need to work on are things like policy, create more clarity, what they are going to do, which institutes are involved,” they added.-VNA