Myanmar has joined the ranks of LNG importers after receiving two cargoes from Malaysian oil and gas producer Petronas.
The shipments totalled 190,000 cbm, Petronas said, and were sold on a free-on-board basis under its master sale-and-purchase agreement between subsidiary Petronas LNG and CNTIC VPower, which was signed earlier this year.
The cargoes were delivered in May and June.
The first shipment has been loaded on board the 28,000-cbm small-scale LNG carrier newbuilding CNTIC VPower Global, which is serving as the storage and shuttle unit for the companies developing a series of gas-fired power plants in Myanmar.
The vessel was cooled down at Petronas’ plant in Sarawak, east Malaysia.
Second cargo
A second cargo was shipped on the 162,000-cbm Golar Kelvin (built 2015). It is unclear whether the Golar ship has arrived off Myanmar yet and how its cargo will be delivered ashore.
Petronas LNG's chief executive Abdul Aziz Othman said: “The two LNG cargoes that were successfully delivered to CNTIC VPower marks a new era in the growth of LNG demand in the South East Asian region."
The chief executive added that with Myanmar being the latest nation to adopt LNG as a form of cleaner energy, Petronas looks forward to being a long-term partner and supplier.
Petronas said it is also working with CNTIC VPower on further LNG deliveries.
CNTIC VPower is a joint venture between Chinese engineering procurement and development contractor CNTIC and power generation system developer VPower Group.
VPower Group International Holdings is building three LNG-to-power projects in Myanmar, which together will have a combined generating capacity of 900MW.
They are listed as the 400MW Thaketa, 350MW Thanlyin and 150MW Kyaukphyu power plants.
The developer has been under contractual pressure to bring the plants into operation by May so that they can be online to ease Myanmar's power shortages during the hot summer months, when the country's hydroelectric power plants are unable to meet demand.
