Thursday, October 06, 2022

ASIA
Spot prices for liquefied natural gas double between January and August


In August, spot LNG prices more than tripled on the year. 

SINGAPORE - Spot, or current, prices for liquefied natural gas (LNG), which is used to generate electricity in Singapore, more than doubled between January and August 2022, said Trade and Industry Minister Gan Kim Yong in a written reply to a parliamentary question on Wednesday.

In August, spot LNG prices more than tripled on the year.

Mr Gan was responding to a question from Workers' Party MP Louis Chua (Sengkang GRC), who asked about the proportion and price change of LNG and piped natural gas (PNG) used to generate electricity in Singapore.

Mr Gan noted that about two-thirds of the country's natural gas is imported as term PNG; the remaining one-third is imported as term LNG. Spot LNG is also used by electricity generation companies to supplement long-term contracts.

Domestically, natural gas is used to generate approximately 95 per cent of our electricity, he added.

For PNG and LNG provided through term contracts, prices have increased by 21 per cent and 38 per cent respectively between January and August, Mr Gan said.

Compared with August 2021 – before the energy crunch – August 2022 saw rises of 20 per cent in the price of PNG and 50 per cent in the price of LNG provided under long-term contracts.

"As Singapore imports most of our energy supply for electricity production, the increase in global energy prices over the past year will flow through into our prices," Mr Gan said.

Acknowledging the worry of rising energy costs, he added: "Our approach has always been to right-price electricity and provide targeted assistance… The Energy Market Authority is also prepared to introduce more emergency measures to forestall extreme volatility in electricity prices if necessary."

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