Palm | Kelapa Sawit

Channel NewsAsia 27 Dec 12;

SINGAPORE: JTC Corporation launched the second stage of its two-stage tender on Thursday to engage an operator for Jurong Rock Caverns (JRC), Singapore's first underground hydrocarbon storage facility.

JTC said in a statement that phase one of the project on Jurong Island, which comprises five caverns, will be completed in stages between 2013 and 2014. It aims to appoint an operator by mid-2013, which will be given a 15-year contract.

In the second stage of the tender, qualified participants will have to submit proposals which will be evaluated based on individual merits, with an emphasis on the fee as well as technical, commercial and legal propositions.

To ensure rigour in the selection process for a capable and qualified operator, JTC said the second stage will also include a pre-qualification stage for new interested participants who had missed the first stage.

The pre-qualification stage, which opens on Thursday, will close on 21 January 2013.

JTC added that four participants who were shortlisted under the first stage have been invited to submit their proposals for evaluation in the second stage. These participants were evaluated based on criteria such as financial stability, experience, capability and track record.

JTC's assistant chief executive officer David Tan said: "JRC will cater to the growing need for additional storage capacity for liquid hydrocarbons at Jurong Island.

"The project will help to optimise our land resource and ensure the competitiveness and sustainability of Singapore's chemical industry in the long run."

The Jurong Rock Caverns project is the first underground rock cavern for hydrocarbon storage in Singapore and Southeast Asia.

Located at a depth of 130 metres beneath Selat Banyan at Jurong Island, it is expected to provide infrastructural support to manufacturers on Jurong Island, and meet the storage needs for liquid hydrocarbons such as crude oil, condensate, naphtha and gas oil.

- CNA/al

JTC seeks operator to run underground storage caverns
Melissa Tan Straits Times 28 Dec 12;

INDUSTRIAL landlord JTC Corporation is continuing its search for an operator to run the first five caverns of Singapore's first underground hydrocarbon storage facility.

These giant rock caverns, part of the Jurong Rock Caverns (JRC) project, will store oil and petrochemicals on Jurong Island. The first five make up the $890 million first phase of the project.

They will be completed in stages between next year and 2014, JTC said in a statement yesterday.

Two of the five are expected to be completed by June next year.

The first five caverns will offer 1.47 million cubic m of storage space to companies.

More caverns will be built in the second phase, though no further details are available yet.

JTC said it has already shortlisted four proposals in the first stage of its request for proposals.

It invited more firms yesterday to submit their proposals in a second stage of the process.

New proposals will be evaluated alongside the original four.

But to "ensure rigour in the selection process for a capable and qualified operator, the second stage will also comprise a pre-qualification stage for new interested participants who missed the first stage", JTC said.

JTC intends to appoint an operator to manage, operate and maintain the caverns by the middle of next year. The operator will be given a 15-year contract.

"We're confident that through this rigorous two-stage request for proposals, we will be able to bring on board a suitable and qualified operator for JRC by next year," said JTC assistant chief executive David Tan.

JTC also put up three indus-trial land plots for sale yesterday, at Ubi and Tuas South.

The 0.35ha site at Ubi Avenue 4 is zoned for "Business 1", or light industry, and has a lease period of 30 years.

The two sites at Tuas South are zoned for "Business 2", or heavy industrial use.

One is a 3.96ha land parcel at Tuas South Avenue 10, which has a 30-year lease.

The other is a 0.3ha plot at Tuas South Street 8, which comes with a shorter tenure of 22 years and five months.

This smaller plot is targeted at industrialists who need to custom-build their own facilities, JTC said in a statement.

These sites were all released under the confirmed list.

The tenders for the three sites will close on Feb 7 next year at 11am.