Malaysia, Singapore Should Develop LNG Hub

Malaysia and Singapore need to develop as Asian LNG hub in order to provide an economically sustainable energy solution to Asian countries, according to Chief Executive Officer of Singapore's Pavilion Energy.

Seah Moon Ming said the initiative could facilitate transparent LNG pricing and price discovery, leading to an Asian LNG Price Marker as well as development of financial instruments such as LNG future contracts, Bernama news agency reported..

"It is timely for the two countries to work together towards an Asian LNG hub as their locations in the Straits of Malacca and South China Sea are host to some of the world's vital sea lanes with about 50 per cent of global LNG supplies passing through each year,” Ming said at an event in Kuala Lumpur.

He said the recent strategic developments in the oil and gas sector in Malaysia and Singapore also represented a scope for closer partnerships between both countries in the energy and related services, Bernama reported.

Ming added that both countries should also start looking for opportunities to develop an integrated gas market as part of the wider Asian LNG hub initiative.

"Further ahead when the time is right, we could also look at how to tap the $7 billion Trans-Asean Gas Pipeline project which connects 4,500 km of gas pipeline networks of all Asean member states, so that the benefits of an Asian LNG hub can be fully reaped and enhance energy security for Asean," he said.