SINGAPORE�First supplies of Indonesian natural gas to Singapore will arrive in 2 months�some 6 months ahead of schedule�even as Malaysia signs an initial agreement with Indonesia to buy gas from the same West Natuna fields (OGJ Online, Oct. 16, 2000).
This follows the completion of a 640-km undersea pipeline connecting Singapore with the West Natuna fields, according to sources. The pipeline is ready to make first delivery in December, said one source.
SembCorp Gas Pty. Ltd., which is buying 325 MMcfd of Natuna gas from Indonesia's Pertamina under a 22-year purchase agreement, confirmed that it was ready to deliver gas to its customers on Jurong Island a few months ahead of schedule but did not specify a date.
The company's major customers include SembCorp Cogen, Tuas Power, and such petrochemical companies as ExxonMobil Corp. and Basell Eastern, a joint venture between Royal Dutch/Shell Group and BASF AG.
In January 1999, SembCorp Gas and Pertamina signed Singapore's first deal to buy gas from Indonesia's West Natuna fields. The purchase agreement with Indonesia is to generate some $8 billion for Indonesia.
Negotiations of a second Singapore-Indonesia gas deal are underway between Singapore Gas, a unit of Singapore Power, and Pertamina. That deal involves supply of 350 MMcfd of gas from Asamera field in Sumatra. In August, a Pertamina official said negotiations on contract terms were near completion.