1°16′02″N 103°42′17″E / 1.26722°N 103.70472°E / 1.26722; 103.70472 Template:SG neighbourhood Jurong Island is a man-made island located to the southwest of the main island of Singapore, off Jurong Industrial Estate. It was formed from the amalgamation of several offshore islands, chiefly the 7 main islands of Pulau Ayer Chawan, Pulau Ayer Merbau, Pulau Merlimau, Pulau Pesek, Pulau Pesek Kecil, Pulau Sakra and Pulau Seraya. This was done through land reclamation. When completed, Jurong Island will form a land area of about 32 km² from an initial area of less than 10 km².

Jurong Island is linked to the main island by a 2.3 km causeway known as the Jurong Island Highway, opened in March 1999.

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-style wooden stilt houses on the palm-fringed islands. Between late-1960s and early-1970s, 3 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 as a choice that will significantly produce economic growth. This was proven by the success of starting off the petroleum industries in the 1970s.

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 in October 2000. From the 991-hectare land area of the original seven islets, Jurong Island currently has a total land area of more then 3,000 hectares and would have added about 200 additional hectares by the time reclamation is completed.

Today, Jurong Island is home to leading petrochemical companies. Industry luminaries like BASF, BP, Celanese, ExxonMobil, DuPont, Mitsui Chemicals, Chevron Oronite, Shell and Sumitomo Chemical have taken the opportunity by setting up factories there to reap the benefits of comprehensive infrastructure and production synergies from this unique cluster development for oil, petrochemical and specialty chemicals.

Clusters of gigantic cylindrical tanks amid a maze of pipelines now dot the island — a testament to the more than 80 companies that have invested around S$24 billion so far. These companies produce a vast range of items, from petroleum products to polycarbonate resins used in CDs, DVDs and LCD TV panels, and super absorbent polymers that go into diapers and sanitary pads.

United States energy giant ExxonMobil, which has invested S$4 billion in a refinery and cracker plant, makes industrial and automotive lubricants including a product used in Formula One racing cars.

DuPont, which pumped in S$1 billion, manufactures Zytel nylon resin, a versatile engineering plastic used in automobile components, appliances, wire insulation, sporting gear and home furnishings.

Output for the chemicals cluster — which cover oil and gas, petrochemicals and specialty chemicals — totalled S$66.5 billion in 2005, up 31 per cent in 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 deposits.

Jurong Island also houses the Seraya Power Station, Singapore's first offshore power station, which was completed in phases on the former Pulau Seraya since 1982.

The 340 owners of cars running on Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) also go to the island to refill their tanks.

Furthermore as part of Singapore's effort to move up the value chain, an Research and Development centre (Institute of Chemical and Engineering Science) was set up on the island.

• Associated Press, "A GDP bigger than some nations", Today, 21 November 2006

• Jurong Island - History and important investor information run by JTC Corporation.