Thailand’s state oil company announced expansion plans for LNG imports that would, if completed and fully utilised, add up to 17 cargoes per year to the country’s demand by the next decade.
State-owned PTT said it received approval from the country’s energy ministry to add 1.5 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) of import capacity at the Map Ta Phut LNG terminal. The $28m project is expected to be completed by 2019, according to a statement from the energy ministry, and would bring the terminal’s import capacity to 11.5 mtpa.
The Map Ta Phut terminal is already undergoing a doubling of capacity from 5 mtpa to 10 mtpa with that project expected to be completed by 2017.
The energy ministry also signed off a proposal to build a new $1bn import terminal in the Gulf of Thailand that would be capable of importing some 5 mtpa. That proposal also has the option to add an incremental 2.5 mtpa of import capacity. There has been no target set for the final investment decision on that project.
Separately, the state utility operator, the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand, said it is studying the potential for using floating storage and regasification to bring in LNG for power generation. The final investment decision on the proposal is expected by the end of the third quarter.
The country’s current import capacity is only running at half utilisation. Thailand’s LNG imports doubled last year to 2.6 million tonnes, according to the International Gas Union’s annual report. Although LNG imports are not expected to change much this year, the country remains on a long-term course to boost imports as domestic natural gas production declines and overland imports from neighbouring Myanmar decline.
