SembCorp and SPC launch Singapore's first CNG

November 21, 2007

Significant moment for Singapore’s motoring industry and motorists, move towards greener society, says NEA chief

Sembcorp Gas and Singapore Petroleum Company Limited (SPC), a member of the Keppel Group, will jointly introduce the first retail compressed natural gas (CNG) service early next year. The retail price of the CNG will be announced later.

The CNG will be supplied and retailed by Sembcorp Gas at SPC’s service station in Jalan Buroh. With this, Singapore motorists would be able to fill up their CNG tanks as easily as pumping petrol or diesel at a service station, by early next year. This will be the first CNG retail station on mainland Singapore as currently the only CNG refuelling station, which is owned and operated by Sembcorp Gas, is on Jurong Island.

Chief Executive Officer of National Environment Agency, Mr Lee Yuen Hee, said, “This is a significant development, for both our motoring industry and motorists, as CNG becomes commercially available through a retail service station for the first time. If more of such CNG retailing stations are set up across the island, it would help pave the way for more Singaporeans to opt for CNG vehicles. I congratulate SPC and Sembcorp Gas for being the first movers and in doing their part for the environment.”

SPC Senior Vice President of Marketing, Chris Keong, said, “Being an energy company, corporate social responsibility has always been fundamental in SPC’s way of doing business. We’re especially proud to be the first to offer CNG at a service station on the mainland. We continue to set the pace in the industry to expand and offer a full range of services and products across SPC’s retail network to meet the changing needs of motorists.”

Sembcorp Gas Director, Mr Francis J Gomez, said, “We are excited to extend the CNG retail service to mainland Singapore. As the first company to introduce CNG to the Singapore market, Sembcorp Gas has been a key advocate of its environmental and cost benefits. Over the next year, we intend to widen our CNG retail service to another three to four locations where piped natural gas is available. In time to come, we will also offer total packaged solutions to enable fleet operators to convert to CNG.”

Under an agreement signed between SPC and Sembcorp Gas, CNG will be retailed directly by Sembcorp Gas. The CNG facility, which is connected to Sembcorp Gas’ underground pipelines, will be owned and operated by Sembcorp Gas.

Plans are underway to widen the service across the island as CNG motoring gains acceptance. Currently there are about 350 CNG cars in Singapore, and the number is expected to grow with increasing environmental awareness.