The Jurong Rock Caverns (JRC) (Malay: Gua Batu Simpanan Barang Mentah Jurong) is the first underground rock cavern for oil storage in Southeast Asia. It is owned by Jurong Town Corporation. The rock caverns were officially opened on 2 September 2014 by the third Prime Minister of Singapore, Lee Hsien Loong.
Located at a depth of 130m (430feet) beneath Banyan Basin on Jurong Island, the 150acres caverns,[1] provide infrastructural support to companies on Jurong Island such as Shell, ExxonMobil and Chevron Philips, and meet the storage needs for liquid hydrocarbons such as crude oil, condensate, naphtha and gas oil.
The first phase comprises five 340m (1,120feet) long, 20m (70feet) wide and 27m (89feet) high caverns with nine storage galleries providing of storage, and 8km (05miles) of tunnels costing SGD 950 million. The second phase of 1.3 million cubic meter, double this capacity to 2.8 million cubic meters (100 million cu ft).[2] [3]
In a study focussed on Swedish policies and conditions in the Cold War (1938-98) it was concluded that environmental investigation into storage of oil and fuel in undressed rock chambers needed to take place over a long period of time, and that the impact and types of potential damage as at 2021 are unknown.[4]