Considered a Sci-Fi movie setting Jurong Rock Caverns is a massive underground storage facility. Jurong Island is a testament to Singapore’s industrial prowess. This man-made island did not just appear overnight. It was born from a vision to transform Singapore into a global chemical hub.
Jurong Island’s story began in the late 1960s. Three oil companies Esso, Singapore Refining Company and Mobil Oil established facilities on Pulau Ayer Chawan, Pulau Merlimau, and Pulau Pesek. They became the pioneers of Singapore’s petroleum industry.
In the 1980s the government saw the potential of the chemical sector. They planned to develop these islands into a petrochemicals hub. There was a scarcity of industrial land on Singapore’s main island. The idea emerged to join the southern islands off Jurong. This would form one colossal island.
In 1991, JTC Corporation became the agent for the Jurong Island project. Land reclamation began in 1995. Jurong Island officially opened in October 2000. It expanded from 991 hectares to 3200 hectares. Jurong was ideal because the sea around it was deep and accessible. Land acquisition was easy because it was rural and state-owned.
Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong officially opened Jurong Island on 14 October 2000. This marked the completion of the government’s plan. It became a premier hub for the chemical industry in the Asia Pacific. The island attracted investments from 61 companies. They aimed to capitalize on the integrated petroleum, petrochemical, and chemical industries.
Jurong Island is linked to the main island by the Jurong Island Highway. It opened in March 1999. It is a 2.3 km causeway.
The creation of Jurong Island served social and economic reasons. It embodies Singapore’s vision. They wanted to develop a strong and vibrant Global Chemical Hub. The vision was to bring together upstream and downstream petrochemical plants. These plants would supply one another. They would create synergies. This would make the complex ecology of different operations viable.
The island aimed to become a world-class chemicals hub in the Asia-Pacific region. Jurong Island offers convenience and value for the chemical industry. It embodies the government’s industry cluster strategy. Industrial policy targets industry clusters, not individual industries. This reaps positive network effects. Jurong Island stands as a symbol of national enterprise. It demonstrates the vision and the will to succeed.
Shell Jurong Island manufactures petrochemicals. It meets the demand for these products in the region. Shell’s chemical manufacturing assets occupy over 60 hectares. They manufacture ethylene oxide, ethoxylates, styrene monomer, propylene oxide and polyols.
Singapore is Shell’s largest petrochemical production and export center in Asia Pacific. Shell Jurong Island manufactures chemical intermediates. These meet the strong demand for these products in the region and beyond.
In November 2009, the Mono-ethylene Glycol plant was officially opened. It is one of the largest mono-ethylene glycol plants in the world. The MEG plant uses award-winning technology developed by Shell. It is called OMEGA. It uses a fully catalytic process for the conversion of ethylene into MEG.
In 2015, Shell announced it had more than doubled the production of high-purity ethylene oxide and ethoxylates. The investments are expected to add 140000 tonnes per annum of high-purity ethylene oxide capacity. They also added 140000 tpa of ethoxylation capacity.
Completed in April 2014, the polyols expansion project increased the site’s existing polyols capacity by more than 100000 tonnes per annum. It also added new grades to Shell’s product offer.
Located 150m below the ground, Jurong Rock Caverns is an underground facility. It addresses the problem of land scarcity. It stores up to 1.47 million cubic meters of liquid hydrocarbons.
While you cannot visit Jurong Island without a security pass, remember that this island is an important powerhouse for Singapore. It helps put Singapore on the global map.