Singapore’s demand for gas will stay strong, reflecting increased consumption by the power and bunkering sectors, while the Southeast Asian nation will also continue to be an important trading hub for the fuel, Singapore LNG CEO Leong Wei Hung said on Sept. 8.
Speaking at the APPEC 2025 industry event organized by S&P Global Commodity Insights, Leong said energy security remains paramount for Singapore.
“We are a growing nation, we attract a lot of investors into Singapore, and our citizens and residents expect to keep the lights on all the time,” he said.
While power demand is expected to grow significantly, Leong said decarbonization will also require a switch from diesel, fuel oil, and traditional petrochemical sources to cleaner sources of energy, including LNG.
SLNG has already launched its plans for a second LNG terminal in the country, with the move comprising a floating storage and regasification unit with a regasification capacity of 5 million mt/year. The FSRU is expected to enter service by the end of the decade, Commodity Insights reported last year. SLNG is partnering with Mitsui OSK Lines, Jurong Port and Wood for Singapore’s second LNG terminal
The capacity expansion via the FSRU is targeted to ensure that Singapore’s energy security needs are met first. Once that is fulfilled, the spare capacity could be used for other applications such as bunkering, he said last year.
Leong expects “massive growth” for LNG over the next couple of years, particularly for bunkering, as the global orderbook for LNG-fueled ships continues to grow and as engine technology develops further.
Singapore is the world’s largest bunkering port. In 2024, the city-state’s marine fuel sales volumes hit a record high of 54.92 million mt, rising 6% from the previous record in 2023, according to data from the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore. Of this, LNG bunker volumes in 2024 grew more than fourfold year over year to more than 460,000 mt.
According to Leong, currently, there is a lot more focus on gas going to the power sector, but the bunker sector is also growing. However, the ratio will stay roughly the same for a while, with 90% of gas going to the country’s power segment, Leong said.
Leong said alternative fuels such as ammonia will be much sought after in addition to gas.
Leong also said that he was unperturbed by China’s growing position in the bunkering space.
“They have their own purpose of existence, and we have our own purpose of existence,” Leong said. He added that Singapore has a big role to play in the trade flow because of its infrastructure and ecosystem.
Other aspects
In August, SLNG announced that it had started constructing a new LNG truck loading facility on the country’s Jurong Island.
The new LNG truck loading facility reinforces the country’s commitment to expanding and diversifying LNG distribution channels across Singapore.
A small factory that is not connected to a pipe needs to have some trucking — cylinder or iso-tank — something small, Leong explained.
Moreover, Leong shared that presently, most of the trucked LNG users are focused on Jurong Island, located southwest of the main island of Singapore, but there are many users in other parts of the country, where demand needs to be catered to.
Leong also said that he welcomed GasCo’s commissioning as it made the sector “very stable.”
In May, the Energy Market Authority of Singapore announced the establishment of Singapore GasCo Pte Ltd, a fully government-owned entity, to centralize the procurement and supply of natural gas to the country’s power sector.
GasCo will help centralize the procurement and supply of gas to power generation companies to reap economies of scale and negotiate for more favorable gas contracting terms, the EMA said, adding that it will also aid the procurement of natural gas from diverse sources and enter longer-term gas contracts to provide a more stable supply and prices.
However, Leong said that while some countries were looking to emulate the model, “it is not for everybody.”
“It depends on the market; it depends on the situation. But it is a model to think about,” he added.
Platts, part of Commodity Insights, assessed JKM — the benchmark price reflecting LNG delivered to Northeast Asia — for October at $11.497/MMBtu on Sept. 8, up 2.2 cents/MMBtu, or 0.19%, day over day. It assessed the LNG DES Southeast Asia Marker, or SEAM, at $11.325/MMBtu on Sept. 8, up 0.22% day over day.
Source: Platts