The Workers’ Party (WP) regrets the latest decision by the Indonesian government to reduce its exports of gas to Singapore, if due to recent unconnected events.
WP MPs have tracked the issue of gas supplies to Singapore from Indonesia through our work in Parliament.
In 2022, MP for Aljunied GRC Gerald Giam asked a Parliamentary Question about unplanned curtailments and steps taken to improve the reliability of Singapore’s gas supplies from Indonesia. The then Minister for Trade and Industry (MTI) confirmed that the contracted volumes for Piped Natural Gas (PNG) are revised annually and because of depleting volumes from source gas fields in Indonesia, the quantum was gradually reducing.
In the same year, MP for Sengkang GRC Louis Chua asked about our PNG supplies from Indonesia, in particular, on the specifics of the gas supply contracts with Indonesia and their expiry dates. The then MTI Minister replied that the information could not be divulged owing to commercial sensitivities. However, the Minister stated that in order to safeguard Singapore’s energy security, Singapore would ensure that our energy sources, and the supply of natural gas was well diversified, including by supplementing PNG supply with Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG), which allows for the import of gas from other source countries.
More generally, Parliament was specifically informed in 2023 that PNG supplies from Indonesia would decline from 2023, but that this would not affect consumers’ electricity supply in Singapore.
The WP agrees that the sanctity of international commercial contracts particularly those that cover our key utilities is an issue of national importance. While the extent of the current reduction of gas exports to date by Indonesia would appear to be tolerable, this episode is a reminder of the importance of diversifying our energy supply chains, especially in an international environment that is increasingly unpredictable. To this end, we note the joint statement issued following the ninth Qatar-Singapore High-Level Joint Committee (HLJC) meeting last week on the facilitation of stable LNG procurement supply chains.
The WP will continue to speak up in Parliament to strengthen our national energy and economic policies, for the benefit of Singapore and all Singaporeans. WP MPs have filed haze-related questions arising for the upcoming parliamentary sitting and we will follow up with supplementary questions during the session as appropriate.
The Workers’ Party
