Singapore Seeks Energy, Chemical Industry Growth

by Ship & Bunker News Team
Friday January 10, 2014

Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong told an audience at the opening of an expanded chemical plant on Jurong Island Wednesday that the government is committed to growing the nation's energy and chemicals industry, Channel NewAsia reports.

The multi-billion-dollar expansion of ExxonMobil Corp.'s Singapore Chemical Plant is the largest manufacturing investment in Singapore.

"The Singapore government stands fully behind them and will continue to help them to succeed," Lee said.

"These companies, including ExxonMobil, depend on us to maintain a predictable environment for their investments to succeed over the long term."

Lee said the government must work to make such investments worthwhile despite the natural constraints on land and feedstock in the city-state.

"We fully understand these considerations and we will fully honour our commitments to these companies which have placed their trust in Singapore," he said.

Lee said Singapore is promoting a skilled workforce and improved infrastructure as it competes against other petrochemical centers in the U.S., Europe, and China.

ExxonMobil said the plant will serve growth markets including China and the Indian subcontinent.

"We expect global chemical demand to grow at a faster pace than GDP (gross domestic product) as people seek higher standards of living, and purchase more household and packaged goods manufactured with chemical products," said Rex Tillerson, chairman and chief executive officer of ExxonMobil.

"Two-thirds of that growth in chemical demand will be here in the Asia-Pacific region."

ExxonMobil was the sixth-largest bunker supplier in Singapore in 2012.