Dr. Fereidun Fesharaki, Chairman, FGE & Advisory Committee Chairman of LNGA 2025

 

Dr. Jeff Brown, President, FGE

 

 

Ladies and Gentlemen

 

1. Good to be back at LNGA Conference this morning. I spoke at the 15th LNGA in Nov 2020, at the height of COVID-19 pandemic - virtually. I shared about impact of COVID-19 on LNG markets, and how Singapore will strengthen our value proposition as an LNG hub, by enhancing the price competitiveness of Singapore’s LNG supply and supporting commercial developments. This year’s theme is Emerging Supply Wave and Rising Demand, and how the market will rebalance. An important topic, given turbulent global geopolitical landscape. While such volatility is welcomed by some of us here, it also keeps others awake at night.

 

2. LNG and gas play critical roles in the global energy transition in powering Asia’s growth. As energy demand rises, we expect LNG demand to continue growing in Asia. More countries will need more natural gas as a transition fuel that provides stable baseload power.

 

3. Gas also plays an equally important role in Singapore’s energy future, and we plan to strengthen our value proposition to the region while securing our domestic energy needs. Let me share three key areas we are working on. First, we will GO BIG, second, we will GO GREEN, and third, we will GO FORWARD. GO BIG, GO GREEN, GO FORWARD,

 

Go Big: Strengthening Singapore’s Energy Trading Ecosystem

 

4. First, GO BIG, and that means strengthening Singapore’s Energy Trading Ecosystem. Singapore stands ready to support international gas traders looking to ride the LNG wave in Asia. A recent Wood Mackenzie study forecasts that Asia’s LNG demand is set to nearly double, reaching 510M tonnes per annum by 2050. This surge will be driven by South and Southeast Asia in the 2030s and beyond.

 

5. Singapore is Asia’s leading LNG hub, with > 60 global LNG traders operating here, ranging from oil majors to independent traders and national oil companies. In 2023, US$150B worth of LNG trade was conducted through Singapore, which was primarily offshore trade. This is equivalent to a quarter of Singapore’s GDP.

 

6. As we welcome new entrants like Santos to Singapore and mark the expansion of existing operations by others such as Beijing Gas, Singapore looks forward to working with industry partners to GO BIG - to expand your operations and seize new opportunities in the global LNG market.

 

Go Green: Decarbonising the Natural Gas Value Chain

 

7. We also plan to GO GREEN, which means decarbonising the natural gas value chain. Even as Singapore supports your current operations here, going green is also important so that we can fulfil our climate commitments. Singapore has committed to achieving net-zero emissions by 2050. This is a tall order for us as a small, low-lying, and alternative-energy-disadvantaged island-state. But we must press on because this is an existential issue for us.  We must find ways to be innovative in this regard.

 

8. As the world’s largest bunkering port, Singapore is working towards reducing greenhouse gas emissions from a well-to-wake perspective. We have partnered industry and researchers to reduce methane slip in the design of LNG bunker vessels and to incorporate methane-based alternatives with lower lifecycle emissions as marine fuels.

 

9. We also recently launched an Expression of Interest for sea-based LNG reloading to complement existing onshore capacities, and the introduction of greener methane-based alternatives, such as liquified bio-methane and e-methane, as marine fuel in the Port of Singapore.

 

10. These initiatives complement ongoing feasibility studies on using cold energy from LNG regasification to liquefy carbon dioxide in what will potentially be the region’s first Carbon Dioxide Liquefaction Facility.

 

11. For the power sector, we are conducting feasibility studies to use CCS to mitigate carbon emissions from power generation, either through pre- or post-combustion capture. Such technologies are important because they can allow the power sector to leverage existing natural gas infrastructure while decarbonising, thereby reducing the risk of asset stranding.

 

12. These efforts, cumulatively and iteratively, will help us GO GREEN and strengthen LNG’s role as a bridge to a low-carbon future.

 

Go Forward: Securing LNG Supplies for the Future

 

13. Having gone big, and having gone green, we need to go forward – securing LNG supplies for the future. Natural gas will continue to play a crucial role in safeguarding our energy security.

 

14. The process of setting up a new entity to centralise the procurement and supply of gas to the power sector is well underway, and we will share more at our parliamentary debates next month. This approach will enable us to think forward and act forward. It will allow us to:

 

a.      negotiate more favourable gas contracting terms

b.     enter longer-term gas contracts for more stable prices and supply, and

c.      procure gas from diverse sources to reduce concentration risks.

 

15. We are also expanding our infrastructure for importing natural gas. SLNG is developing a second LNG Terminal at Jurong Port, as an offshore terminal with a new floating storage and regasification unit. At 5 million tonnes per annum of throughput capacity, the new terminal will increase our existing LNG capacity by 50%.

 

16. These developments put us on a firm foundation to move forward and navigate the inherent uncertainties of the energy transition, as we introduce new sources into our energy mix.

 

Conclusion

 

17. Ladies and gentlemen, in a globally uncertain world, and with the emerging supply wave and rising demand, I had spoken of Singapore’s commitment to Go Big, Go Green and Go Forward. Why do we do so? Because Singapore recognises the continued importance of natural gas in global energy supply chains and the pivotal role that natural gas will continue to play as a transition fuel for countries’ energy transitions.

 

18. But even as it is important to Go Big, Go Green and Go Forward, it is also very important for us to Go Together. That’s why we are committed to partnering industry to seize new opportunities and meet our energy needs today, while readying ourselves for decarbonisation tomorrow. Together, we can co-create a vibrant and future-ready LNG sector in Singapore.

 

19. I wish all of you a fruitful conference ahead. Thank you.