Union Gas assessing disruption to LPG supply after massive fire at supplier's Jurong facility

CATALIST-LISTED gas supplier Union Gas Holdings is assessing and monitoring the impact of disruption to its supply of bottled liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) cylinders caused by an industrial fire at a supplier's facility on Friday evening.

It will update shareholders on any material impact, operationally or financially, to the group as a result of the accident, it said in a filing on Monday morning.

On June 21, the massive fire occurred at the bottling and storage facility of the supplier, Summit Gas Systems Pte Ltd, at Jalan Buroh in the Jurong industrial area.

One employee from Summit was killed in the accident while two others were injured. Union Gas "deeply regrets" the fatality and expresses its deepest condolences to the employee's family, it said on Monday.

Union Gas distributes bottled LPG cylinders and sells LPG-related accessories to domestic households in Singapore. It also produces and distributes compressed natural gas and diesel.

Summit is a subsidiary of Union Energy Corporation (UEC). Summit is not part of Union Gas group.

Teo Kiang Ang, Union Gas's controlling shareholder and non-executive chairman, holds a 61.89 per cent stake in UEC and is also a director in UEC. Meanwhile, Union Gas's chief executive officer and executive director, Teo Hark Piang, owns 12.55 per cent of UEC and is a non-executive director there.

UEC supplies bottled LPG cylinders to Union Gas for sale to its customers through two dealership agreements. The agreements are signed with Summit and Semgas Supply.

Operations at the Summit facility have been suspended and moved to Semgas Supply's bottling and storage facility, Union Gas said on Monday.

UEC has assured that it will honour all LPG fulfilments to Union Gas.

Union Gas said that its management has been in discussion with Summit, and will work with both Summit and Semgas Supply to ensure there is minimum disruption to the supply of bottled cylinders.

The Straits Times reported on Friday that the fire involved hundreds of highly flammable LPG cylinders, and spread rapidly across the facility which was about the size of two football fields, triggering loud explosions.

It took around 120 firefighters more than two hours to bring the blaze under control and ensure that it did not spread to larger LPG storage tanks nearby.

According to the Singapore Civil Defence Force, a 43-year-old man was pronounced dead at the scene. Two other men, aged 29 and 45, had burn injuries and were conscious when taken to the hospital.

The cause of the fire is being investigated.

Shares of the company were trading flat at 23.5 Singapore cents as at 10.31am on Monday.