Singapore’s Energy Market Authority (EMA) is seeking to appoint two new liquefied natural gas (LNG) term importers for the city-state, adding to the two it already has, to boost competition and give more options to gas buyers.
Natural gas is expected to play a growing role in Singapore’s energy mix as it shifts towards renewable energy.
Singapore, Asia’s main oil trading hub, has been expanding its LNG infrastructure by increasing storage capacity and also adding the capability to break up big cargoes into smaller ones.
The energy regulator issued a request for a proposal so it can select and appoint two new importers who will receive a gas importer licence, the proposal issued by EMA on Thursday said.
This will be on top of Singapore’s two existing LNG term importers – Pavilion Energy Singapore and Shell Eastern Trading, who were appointed in 2017, EMA said.
The importers’ main function would be to provide regasified LNG to meet Singapore’s domestic demand.
They will also be able to conduct other activities such as selling short term or spot LNG, sell LNG for bunkering or re-export, provide handling services to companies wishing to bring in their own upstream LNG supply and providing gas shipping services to end-users, EMA said.
Proposals must be submitted by 9 November 2020 and will be evaluated based on their ability to provide reliable, secure and competitive supply of LNG to Singapore, EMA said. – Reuters