REFILE-UPDATE 1-Singapore takes over LNG project-minister

(Corrects title of minister in paragraph 3 of story dated June 30 to ...senior minister of state for trade and industry)

* Govt aims for the terminal to be operational by 2013

* GDF Suez confirms the consortium dropped the project

* Terminal is latest Singapore project delayed due to crisis (Updates with GDF Suez, industry reactions)

SINGAPORE, June 30 (Reuters) - The Singapore government will take over development of its first $1 billion liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal from a consortium, to avoid more delays due to the credit crunch, and defer its completion by a year to 2013.

The PowerGas-led consortium, which included GDF Suez (GSZ.PA) with a 30 percent stake, had been due to make its final investment decision this month for the project slated to have a 3 million-tonne annual capacity when completed in 2012.

"Financial markets are also less hospitable and financing is more difficult and costly. It has, therefore, become significantly more challenging for PowerGas to proceed with this project on a commercial basis as originally intended," senior minister of state for trade and industry S. Iswaran told an LNG conference.

"The government has decided to take over the ownership and development of the LNG terminal in Singapore," he said.

GDF Suez confirmed the consortium had dropped the project but declined to comment further.

The Energy Market Authority (EMA) will form the Singapore LNG Corporation for this purpose, and "the aim is to ensure that the terminal is completed and operational by 2013, notwithstanding the present uncertainties in the market", Iswaran said.

Industry sources confirmed the PowerGas-led consortium had slowed down the project due to the downturn.

"It was not the right time to move on with it," an industry source said. "The government saw this project as a priority one and decided to go ahead with it despite the profitability issues," he said adding the decision was not a surprise.

The LNG terminal is the latest Singapore project to be delayed due to the financial crisis.

Last month, Jurong Aromatics Corp (JAC) said it had pushed back the start-up of a $2.4 billion aromatics project until early 2013 from 2011, as it struggles to obtain funding, but dismissed speculation it would suspend or scrap the project. [ID:nSP477329]

Just before that, the city-state cancelled the operational tender for the rock cavern oil storage project and would only re-issue it three years later, adding to the list of project delays worldwide due to poor economic conditions. [ID:nSP124882] [ID:nSIN466009]

PowerGas, a wholly owned unit of Singapore Power, was appointed in 2007 to jointly build and operate the terminal with French-utility GDF Suez (GSZ.PA).