Singapore (VNA) – Singapore has introduced a range of measures to ensure energy security amid conflict in the Middle East, though electricity prices are expected to rise in the coming months, with the government prepared to roll out support measures for residents and businesses.
Minister-in-charge of Energy and Science and Technology at the Ministry of Trade and Industry Tan See Leng said on March 12 that the closure of the Strait of Hormuz due to the conflict will affect global imports of crude oil and LNG from the Middle East, and likely result in higher global fuel prices in the near term.
He added that as the global environment is becoming less certain and stable, fuel disruptions and price fluctuations will become more frequent. The effects of these will be felt in Singapore, which imports all of the natural gas needed to fuel about 95% of its electricity generation, he said.
On the measures the Singapore government has in place to handle the rise in global gas prices, Tan highlighted that around half of the city-state’s gas is piped to Singapore from the region and is therefore “unaffected”. Moreover, the country diversifies its sources of imported LNG, and hence is “not overly exposed to the Middle East”, he noted.
Singapore’s LNG importers have a global portfolio of sources, such as the US and Australia, which can tap to replace cargoes originally from the Middle East. For the one LNG cargo from the Middle East, efforts are underway with the importers to find replacement cargoes, said Tan.
He noted that Singapore has established a fuel stockpile – a mixture of gas and diesel – which power-generation companies may draw from in the event of a severe disruption to gas supplies.
Noting that the Energy Market Authority requires Singapore’s electricity-generating turbines to be able to run on both gas and diesel, he pointed out that the authority regularly tests all power plants to ensure that they are able to switch to diesel-based generation if that is needed./.
