SINGAPORE: Indonesia’s reduction in gas exports to Singapore on Saturday (Oct 24) amounts to less than 2 per cent of the country’s total daily gas demand, said the Energy Market Authority (EMA).
In response to media queries, an EMA spokesperson said the total reduction of 31 million standard cubic feet of gas a day amounts to 17 British thermal units per day (bbtud) over a period of 18 days.
"This is less than 2 per cent of our total daily gas demand of more than 1,000 bbtud," it said, adding that it understands that importers will pursue all relevant recourse in their contracts for the gas supply disruption, said EMA.
EMA also said that it had contingency plans in place to deal with such reductions.
It pointed out that in recent months, there were reductions ranging from 20 bbtud to 100 bbtud due to planned or urgent maintenance.
"These reductions were replaced with other gas sources without incident. Singapore GasCo is operationally ready to import more LNG at any time," it said.
"Besides Indonesia, Singapore imports natural gas from other sources around the world," it added.
Indonesia began reducing natural gas exports to Singapore, in order to divert more supplies to domestic electricity needs, the country’s upstream oil and gas regulator SKK Migas said in response to CNA’s queries.
The diversion involves 31 million standard cubic feet of gas a day, comprising 15 million from Natuna and 16 million from Sumatra.
"Power generation companies are further required to maintain sufficient fuel reserves for power generation, including diesel reserves. We therefore have sufficient energy supplies to meet our national demands," it said.
GAS SUPPLY DIVERSION
SKK Migas had said the gas from Natuna was being diverted to PLN Batam through the WNTS–Pulau Pemping–Batam pipeline. Supplies from Sumatra were being redirected through the TGI pipeline to meet electricity needs in Batam, Bintan and Sumatra.
The regulator said the move was intended to "safeguard the reliability of domestic gas supplies for electricity generation".
It cited Article 8, Paragraph 1 of Indonesia’s Oil and Gas Law as the basis for prioritising the use of natural gas for domestic needs, and said it would monitor developments daily.
Natural gas is used to generate about 95 per cent of Singapore's electricity.
CNA has also sent queries to Indonesia’s presidential palace but has yet to receive a response.
The move comes days after Energy and an Indonesian minister warned that Jakarta could review energy exports to countries that did not show it sufficient respect. SKK Migas’ response did not link the diversion to those remarks.
Singapore imports natural gas through pipelines from Indonesia and Malaysia, as well as liquefied natural gas (LNG) shipped in from international suppliers.
In 2025, piped natural gas accounted for 43 per cent of Singapore's total gas imports, while LNG made up the remaining 57 per cent.