Singapore is looking at how it can intensify the use of its industrial land, given the shortage of sites, particularly those with waterfront access.
JTC Corporation said that the study will cover a sector involving more than 3,000 firms, broadly involved in two clusters: marine engineering (including shipbuilding, FPSO or ship conversions and rigbuilding) and offshore gas and oil exploration and production support services.
According to a tender document, the study by the appointed consultant "will not just be restricted to existing oil and gas activities here, but also those that are currently carried out overseas and have the potential to be done in Singapore."
"The purpose of the study is to establish the viability of intensifying land usage for these oil and gas activities," it added.
JTC’s study, starting with the O&M industry as well as for the aerospace industry, marks a new phase in the company’s attempt to carve out additional industrial space in Singapore.
JTC has already embarked on constructing underground projects such as oil storage on Jurong Island, and possibly for science parks, and data processing and logistics centres later. It is also studying constructing large floating structures for several industrial purposes.
The latest research to intensify land usage for the O&M sector follows the planned development located at the new hockey-stick shaped Tuas View Extension area — a 13-hectare offshore marine support base. This support base, which replaces an earlier one at Shipyard Road in Jurong, will cater to a strong pipeline of customers for waterfront land.