Singapore urges gas suppliers to honour contracts after Indonesia diverts exports
Prime Minister Lawrence Wong said Singapore expects its gas contracts to be honoured after Indonesia redirected pipeline supplies to meet domestic electricity demand.
Singapore expects gas suppliers to honour their contracts after Indonesia began diverting pipeline gas exports to domestic power plants on Saturday, October 24. Prime Minister Lawrence Wong made the call at a People’s Action Party convention in Singapore on Sunday, October 25, as the city-state assessed a reduction that its energy regulator says is less than 2% of daily gas demand.
Wong said parties that signed commercial gas supply contracts should ‘honour their commitments’ and that Singapore’s gas importer would take necessary steps to protect its rights and interests under those contracts, Channel News Asia reported. He did not identify a specific supplier as having breached a contract or specify what action the importer would take.
How much gas Indonesia diverted
Indonesia cut exports by 31 million standard cubic feet a day, according to its upstream oil and gas regulator, SKK Migas. Its chairman, Djoko Siswanto, told Reuters that 15 million cubic feet a day was diverted from Natuna and 16 million from Sumatra. The gas was redirected to meet electricity needs in Batam, Bintan and Sumatra, he said.
The reduction represents about 9% of Indonesia’s pipeline gas supply to Singapore, Reuters reported. Singapore’s Energy Market Authority put it at 17 billion British thermal units a day over 18 days. That is less than 2% of Singapore’s total daily gas demand of more than 1,000 billion British thermal units, the authority said. The 9% and 2% figures describe different totals: Indonesia’s pipeline exports to Singapore and Singapore’s overall gas demand.
Singapore’s supply options
The Energy Market Authority said Singapore had sufficient energy supplies to meet national demand and that state gas buyer GasCo was ready to import more liquefied natural gas at any time. Those imports offer an alternative to pipeline deliveries during the 18-day reduction identified by the authority.
Singapore has invested in liquefied natural gas terminals so it can buy gas from different countries without relying solely on pipelines, Wong said, according to Channel News Asia. Natural gas remains central to the power system: Reuters reported that it generates about 95% of Singapore’s electricity.
Wong also pointed to the government’s study of nuclear energy as a possible future source of reliable power. He said safety concerns in densely populated Singapore must be taken seriously and that officials would assess the risks and engage the public before making a decision. Channel News Asia reported that Singapore plans to begin an International Atomic Energy Agency assessment in 2027 to help it evaluate whether to adopt nuclear energy.
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Sources and context
- Indonesia cuts pipeline gas exports to Singapore by about 9%The Hindu (Reuters report)
- Singapore expects all parties to honour commercial gas contracts, says PM Wong after Indonesia cut exportsChannel News Asia
AI-assisted article checked against the listed sources. NewsJaws did not conduct interviews or attend the reported events.