(Part 2 of 2)
In Part 1 of this topic last Nov. 28, I discussed the countries with the highest natural gas power generation/total power generation ratio. The top three are Singapore, Iran and Egypt.
Here I will discuss the proven natural gas reserves in trillion cubic feet (TCF) as of end-2020, and the reserves/production (R/P) ratio in years. The R/P ratio means the number of years that the reserves will be depleted if current production (for domestic use and exports) will continue unchanged.
Proven natural gas reserves and R/P ratio
In Middle-East Asia, the proven gas reserves in 2020 and R/P ratio respectively are as follows: Iran 1,134 TCF and 128 years, Qatar 871 TCF and 144 years, Saudi Arabia 213 TCF and 54 years, United Arab Emirates (UAE) 210 TCF and 107 years, Iraq 125 TCF and 336 years, Kuwait 60 TCF and 113 years, and Syria 10 TCF and 90 years.
In East and South Asia, gas reserves and R/P ratio respectively are as follows: China 297 TCF and 43 years, India 47 TCF and 56 years, Indonesia 44 TCF and 20 years, Malaysia 32 TCF and 12 years, Vietnam 23 TCF and 74 years, Myanmar 15 TCF and 24 years, Brunei eight TCF and 18 years.
In Central Asia, Turkmenistan has 480 TCF and 231 years, Azerbaijan 88 TCF and 97 years, Kazakhstan 80 TCF and 71 years.
Now consider the reserves and R/P ratio respectively of the following: US 446 TCF and 14 years only, Russia 1,320 TCF and 59 years, Venezuela 221 TCF and 334 years, Libya 50 TCF and 107 years. Again Iraq 336 years, Syria 90 years.
(Energy Institute, Statistical Review of World Energy 2024 database)
Some of these countries with high R/P ratio have experienced US political and military engagement: Iraq and Syria were invaded, Libya has successful regime change, Venezuela has unsuccessful regime change. Some analysts think that continued NATO expansion right into the border of Russia with unsuccessful (yet) NATO membership for Ukraine has long-term regime change projects in Russia.
Pacific Light in Singapore
Singapore is a very rich country with a huge energy demand to sustain its high standard of living. Its primary energy consumption – electricity demand plus energy use for transportation (air, land, sea) – per capita in 2023 was 577 gigajoules (GJ), the third highest in the world after Qatar and Iceland. Higher than UAE’s 539 GJ, Canada’s 360 GJ, US’ 277 GJ, S.Korea’s 240 GJ, Australia’s 228 GJ, Japan’s 141 GJ, Germany’s 137 GJ, France’s 134 GJ, China’s 120 GJ, UK’s 103 GJ and Italy’s 101 GJ.
Some 90 percent of Singapore’s electricity generation comes from natural gas plants. Like many developed countries, Singapore is very bright at night, even public parks with no people walking around at night are very bright.
Pacific Light has been both a power generator and electricity retailer in Singapore since 2013. It is one of only six power generator companies there. What I find fascinating is that its 830-MW gas plant in Jurong Island with space for an additional 100 MW of fast-start gas plant, is sitting in a small area of only 13 hectares, which is only 0.02 percent of Singapore’s total land area of 73,430 hectares as of 2022.
Pacific Light is a joint venture between Meralco PowerGen Corp. (MGen) with 58 percent and First Pacific Co. Ltd. with 42 percent ownership.
Two weeks ago, I met Pacific Light’s CEO, Mr. Yu Tat Ming, a straight-talking and articulate engineer who has worked in the electricity industry for more than four decades. When I asked him some economics-related topics like what is the market share of Pacific Light in the overall Singapore consumer base, he would answer in economics plus engineering stuff. Something like “generation share about eight percent but market share nearly 10 percent because of our high efficiency, lower cost plant using Siemens gas turbines plus steam turbines.” Cool guy.
In the same briefing I also asked MGen president and CEO Emmanuel Rubio about the lessons from Pacific Light that can be adaptable to operating liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities in the Philippines. He mentioned four characteristics of modern LNG plants.
One, energy security. Pacific Light Power demonstrates how LNG can serve as a stable and cleaner alternative to coal and oil. For the Philippines, investing in LNG infrastructure can help address the imminent depletion of the Malampaya gas field, ensuring a consistent power supply while supporting the energy transition.
Two, diversity in energy mix. Incorporating LNG in the energy mix balances reliability with sustainability, helping stabilize our grid especially during higher renewable energy penetration. Some 60 percent of Luzon grid’s energy mix comes from coal, imported coal mostly from Kalimantan, Indonesia. It is not prudent to be highly dependent on one technology given the regulatory and market uncertainty around coal over the next 20-30 years.
Three, high reliability for both 24/7 baseload generation and fast ramp up or down for mid-merit generation.
Four, flexibility for liquid fuel or hydrogen fuel substitution when necessary. Plus, space saving, not occupying a big land area to generate thousands of MWH of electricity yearly.
This is cool. We need this kind of power plant in the Philippines. High reliability and high efficiency means price competitiveness, more affordable electricity prices for the consumers. Which is what we need to have sustained fast economic growth and job creation in the country given the fast increase in electricity demand with more electric vehicles, more data centers and AI, and rising standard of living of many Filipinos.
Related reports in Philippine Star by Brix Lelis, “MGen’s PacificLight allots $900 million, to bid for 600-MW Singapore plant” (Nov. 27), “MGen to spend $2 billion for expansion” (Nov. 28).
Be the first to comment