Taiwan has largely secured liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplies through May and arranged about half of June’s supply, Minister of Economic Affairs Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) said yesterday.
Since the Middle East conflict began on Feb. 28, Taiwan’s LNG inventories have remained more than 12 days, exceeding the legal requirement of 11 days, indicating no major supply concerns for domestic gas and electricity, Kung said at a meeting of the legislature’s Economics Committee in Taipei.
The ministry aims to increase the figure to 14 days by the end of next year, he said.
Photo: Peter Lo, Taipei Times
While one or two LNG or crude oil shipments for May might be short, overall supply is expected to remain stable, he said.
Gas-fired power now accounts for about 50 percent of Taiwan’s total power generation, he added.
There are 14 LNG storage tanks nationwide, with expansion plans under way at the Taichung terminal and the Guantang (觀塘) terminal in Taoyuan, CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) chairman Fang Jeng-zen (方振仁) said.
Regarding other energy reserves, coal inventories stand at about 40 days, above the required 30 days, and oil reserves have reached about 150 days, significantly higher than the required 90 days, Kung said.
Taiwan would source more oil shipments from the US, now accounting for about 28 percent of the total supply, if the Middle East conflict persists, he said.
Amid concerns that Middle East tensions could disrupt global petrochemical feedstock supplies and lead to domestic shortages and pricing volatility, the ministry has contacted major upstream petrochemical suppliers, who said they would continue supplies, Kung said.
The ministry is prepared if a supply disruption occurs, he added.
Meanwhile, the government’s electricity price review committee is to meet tomorrow to decide rates for the next six months, beginning next month. The ministry and the Executive Yuan have expressed their wishes that the committee keep rates unchanged for the time being, Kung said.
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