Rising LNG supply and demand within Asia has prompted plans to establish a domestic natural gas trading market in Singapore, reports say.

The city-state’s government plans to set up a Secondary Gas Trading Market (SGTM) in Singapore for trading LNG and natural gas domestically on a short-term basis. The plans were announced today by S. Iswaran, minister for trade and industry, at the opening of Singapore’s International Energy Week.

“An SGTM can yield several potential benefits. It will allow domestic gas price discovery that reflects Singapore’s demand and supply conditions. Second, gas users will be able to complement their portfolio of long- and medium-term supplies with short-term supplies,” the minister reportedly told delegates.

“It will also pave the way for the potential establishment of a gas futures market,” Iswaran said, but did not specify a time-frame for the scheme.

According to Reuters reports, the Singapore Exchange plans to create an Asian benchmark for LNG, which will negate the commodity’s reliance on oil-linked pricing.

Singapore’s Energy Market Authority will aim to provide more detailed information on the long-term energy outlook, the minister said.

The city-state is also assessing proposed land allocation framework for new power plants. Currently, more than 90% of Singapore’s electricity is produced from imported natural gas, including LNG, purchased under bilateral contracts.