Product Code Database
"type": "ExternalData",
"service": "geoshape",
"ids": "Q2383204",
"title": "Jurong Island"
}
Jurong Island is an island located to the southwest of the main island of Singapore. It was formed from the amalgamation of seven offshore , the islands of Pulau Ayer Chawan, Pulau Ayer Merbau, Pulau Merlimau, Pulau Pesek, Pulau Pesek Kechil (also called Terumbu Pesek), Pulau Sakra (which was a previous merger of Pulau Sakra and Pulau Bakau), Pulau Seraya, Pulau Meskol, Pulau Mesemut Laut, Pulau Mesemut Darat and Anak Pulau. This was done through Singapore's land reclamation efforts. Land reclamation on Jurong Island was completed on 25 September 2009, 20 years earlier than scheduled. Pulau Buaya was joined to Jurong Island via reclamation in 2010. Jurong Island forms a land area of about from an initial area of less than .
The outlying islands of Pulau Ayer Chawan, Pulau Ayer Merbau, Pulau Merlimau and Pulau Seraya used to house fishing communities comprising small villages up to the 1960s. The villagers lived in Malay people-style wooden stilt houses on the palm-fringed islands. Between the late-1960s and early-1970s, three big oil companies planned to house their facilities on Pulau Ayer Chawan for Esso, Pulau Merlimau for Singapore Refinery Company and Pulau Pesek for Mobil Oil.
The Government of Singapore then took the opportunity to grow the petrochemical industry to improve economic growth. It proved a success when the petroleum industry took off in the 1970s.
By the 1980s, after a decade of rapid industrialisation, industrial land was growing scarce on Pulau Ujong. The idea of joining the southern islands off Jurong to form one colossal island to create more industrial land was therefore conceived.
In 1991, JTC Corporation (formerly Jurong Town Corporation) was appointed the agent of the Jurong Island project. JTC planned and coordinated with various government agencies in providing the necessary infrastructure and services to the island.
Physical land reclamation began in 1995, and Jurong Island was officially opened on 14 October 2000 by then Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong. From the 9.91 km2 land area of the original seven islets, as of completion of the land reclamation on 25 September 2009, Jurong Island currently has a total land area of 30 km2. Penta-Ocean Construction was the major contractor and reclamation was completed 20 years ahead of schedule.
Clusters of gigantic cylindrical tanks amid a maze of pipelines now dot the island; investment totalled S$31 billion in 2010. Resident companies produce a vast range of items, from petroleum products to polycarbonate used in CDs, and LCD TV panels, and super-absorbent that go into and .
ExxonMobil, which has invested S$4 billion in a Refining and cracker plant, makes industrial and automotive including a product used in Formula One . DuPont has invested S$1 billion, and manufactures Zytel nylon resin, a versatile engineering plastic used in automobile components, appliances, wire insulation, sporting gear and home . Afton Chemical is constructing a new manufacturing facility, expected to become operational in January 2016, to produce petroleum additives for the Asia-Pacific and Middle East markets.
Output for the chemicals cluster—which cover oil and gas, petrochemicals and speciality chemicals—totalled S$66.5 billion in 2005, an increase of 31 per cent from 2004. This accounted for almost 32 per cent of production in Singapore's manufacturing sector. Powered by the cluster, Singapore is currently one of the world's top three oil refining centres despite not having a single drop of crude oil deposits.
Jurong Island's refineries process of crude oil per day, turning it into petrol, kerosene and jet fuel sold locally and abroad. Cracker plants break down the molecules of other oil-and gas-related substances such as naphtha into additives that give unique characteristics to certain products, from printer to plastic mouldings, and aircraft materials.
Apart from imported crude, natural gas from Indonesia's Natuna Islands field arrives at Jurong Island via a 640 km undersea pipeline. Some of it is refined to provide a source of cleaner and cheaper fuel, while the rest is sent to crackers that make other petrochemical products. The country's first refilling station for compressed natural gas (CNG) opened on Jurong Island in 2002. As most of the 2500+ cars running on CNG in Singapore are not allowed to enter the island because the drivers do not have the necessary security pass, four more CNG stations opened on the main island leading up to September 2009.
Access to the island is limited to staff and visitors, and they are issued with security passes. Other security restrictions include that any photographic equipment brought to the island must be declared. Without permission from Island Security it is forbidden to take photographs or videos on Jurong Island. Anyone getting caught taking pictures or videos is handed over to the police, and subsequently will have their Jurong Island pass confiscated and their permission to enter Jurong Island revoked.
Jurong Island and the southwestern waters were to be used for Exercise Northstar 8 from 21 to 25 November 2011. However, Exercise Northstar 8 was only carried out on 25 November 2011 after 4pm at Jurong Island, up to 7.30pm.
The island has a network of pipelines that allows for seamless integration among companies. For example, Japan's Teijin can make polycarbonates from chlorine piped in directly from CIFE and bisphenol A from Mitsui Chemicals elsewhere on the island. Red pipes carry water for firefighting, and green pipes carry sea water for cooling. Huge silver pipes carry steam, and small silver pipes bring product lines.
There are two major cargo jetties on Jurong Island, namely Sakra Jetty and Banyan Jetty. Sakra Jetty is managed and controlled by ExxonMobil.
Jurong Island is linked to the main island by a 2.3 km causeway known as the Jurong Island Highway, opened in March 1999, build by Hyundai Construction. Several public bus services run between Jurong Island and the mainland, operated by Woodlands Transport.
Located beneath the seabed of Banyan Basin, off Jurong Island, JRC was completed in phases beginning in 2013, and was officially opened on 2 September 2014. As a result of this first phase of work, the caverns reportedly have a storage capacity of 1.47 million cubic metres.Paul Jacob, "PM eyes S'pore-Saudi logistics tie-ups", The Sunday Times, 26 November 2006 Phase 2, which has the potential to add another 1.32 million cubic metres, is being explored.
There have also been plans to build a second causeway to link the Western end of Jurong Island Highway with Gul Road in Jurong Industrial Estate on mainland Singapore, but these have been shelved. The investment earmarked for the second causeway has been re-allocated to the building of HDB flats at Western Water Catchment later in the decade.
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