Aster eyes completion of Singapore refinery and berth works in H2 2026

Storage, power

The company is studying plans to lease empty crude and refined products storage tanks at the site that have been designed for a 500,000-bpd refinery, Khor said. "We have 4.3 million cubic metres of storage that we can look to monetise and also provide strategic storage to add into the Singapore tankage ecosystem," he said.

Aster, through its power subsidiary, plans to increase its "low-carbon" electricity generation to sell excess supply to the Singapore grid, Khor said.

The company is installing solar panels at its Bukom and Jurong Island sites and plans to take a final investment decision on a $150 million project to build a gas-fired power plant that can burn hydrogen by 2029.

"It continues to be a challenging time for the refining and chemicals industry, hence we need to invest and be able to generate all these credits that can improve our bottom line quickly to make the units more resilient," he said. Singapore will hike a carbon tax for highly emitting businesses to SG$45 ($35.42) per tonne, up from SG$25 in 2024-2025.

While geopolitical events have supported global refining utilisation rates at 80-90 per cent, Khor said, chemical plants globally are running at 70-80 per cent, below what is considered a healthy rate of 85-90 per cent.

It will take time for the effects of petrochemical consolidation in South Korea and China to feed through the system and the sector should recover from 2027-2028, he said.

(Reporting by Trixie Yap and Florence Tan: Editing by Neil Fullick)