Thailand's first LNG terminal to operate from July-PTT
Thailand's liquefied natural gas (LNG) receiving terminal, the first in Southeast Asia, is on track to begin commercial operations in July after a successful test run, an executive at owner and operator PTT Pcl said on Friday, Reuters reports. Thailand is among a growing number of new LNG buyers in Asia as imports of the cleaner-burning fuel allow countries to diversify away from oil and coal.
State-controlled PTT received 60,000 tonnes of LNG from Qatar in the spot market on May 31 for the trial run at the $880 million terminal in eastern Thailand, said Wichai Pornkeratiwat, senior executive vice-president for its gas business.
PTT, the country's top energy firm, plans to import another lot of LNG for further testing before the commercial run starts, Wichai told reporters.
"The test run went smoothly without problem. We plan to import more LNG soon to test again," he said, adding the imports to date were not part of a PTT contract to buy LNG from Qatar.
PTT, which has been in talks with several LNG suppliers, has signed a deal to buy 1 million tonnes of LNG a year from Qatar from late 2011.
LNG imports are expected to grow to 2 tonnes per year (tpy) by 2013 and 3 million tpy by 2017, according to Bernstein Research estimates.
The terminal facilities, located in Rayong province, comprise one jetty and two storage tanks that together can handle up to 5 million tpy of LNG, the amount which Thailand plans to gradually import after 2011.
A senior government official had previously said the terminal will likely operate at 20 percent of its capacity in the first one to three years.
The new terminal represents about 26 percent of new Asian regasification capacity coming online in 2011, estimates from Tri-Zen International in Singapore showed.
Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Vietnam and possibly Sri Lanka and the Philippines are expected to become LNG importers in the next few years, adding to rapidly growing Asian demand for the supercooled fuel.
Thailand's terminal comes ahead of projects in neighbouring Malaysia and Singapore. Malaysia is building a 3.8 million-tpy LNG terminal in western Malacca state, due for completion mid-next year and is studying for another one in southern Johor state.
Singapore, which aims to become a business centre for LNG, is expected to launch its 6 million-tpy terminal in early 2013.
GROWING THAI LNG DEMAND
Thailand's natural gas demand is expected to have a compound annual growth rate of 1 percent a year in the next 20 years to reach 5,236 million cubic feet per day (mmcfd) in 2030 on strong demand from power producers and the transport sector, PTT data released in June showed.
PTT, the country's sole gas supplier, posted a 9 percent rise in gas sales to 4,145 mmcfd in the first quarter, implying robust domestic demand as a result of strong economic growth.
Thailand's LNG consumption will likely be further boosted by a government decision to postpone the planned start of the country's first nuclear power plant by three years to 2023 due to safety concerns after Japan's nuclear crisis sparked by the tsunami in March.
PTT Chief Executive Prasert Bunsumpun has said the company may import as much as 10 million tonnes of LNG a year in the future to serve strong domestic demand since nuclear power plant projects have been delayed.
PTT shares, which ended up 0.3 percent at 334 baht on Friday, have fallen 13 percent since late April.
Thailand currently uses natural gas to generate about 70 percent of its electricity. The rest comes from sources such as coal and hydropower plus imports from neighbouring countries.
The country also has domestic natural gas supplies to feed its power needs. U.S. energy major Chevron Corp said in January it aimed to start gas production at the $3.1 billion Platong 2 project in the Gulf of Thailand later this year, ahead of schedule, with production to eventually hit 330 million cubic feet per day.
State-controlled PTT received 60,000 tonnes of LNG from Qatar in the spot market on May 31 for the trial run at the $880 million terminal in eastern Thailand, said Wichai Pornkeratiwat, senior executive vice-president for its gas business.
PTT, the country's top energy firm, plans to import another lot of LNG for further testing before the commercial run starts, Wichai told reporters.
"The test run went smoothly without problem. We plan to import more LNG soon to test again," he said, adding the imports to date were not part of a PTT contract to buy LNG from Qatar.
PTT, which has been in talks with several LNG suppliers, has signed a deal to buy 1 million tonnes of LNG a year from Qatar from late 2011.
LNG imports are expected to grow to 2 tonnes per year (tpy) by 2013 and 3 million tpy by 2017, according to Bernstein Research estimates.
The terminal facilities, located in Rayong province, comprise one jetty and two storage tanks that together can handle up to 5 million tpy of LNG, the amount which Thailand plans to gradually import after 2011.
A senior government official had previously said the terminal will likely operate at 20 percent of its capacity in the first one to three years.
The new terminal represents about 26 percent of new Asian regasification capacity coming online in 2011, estimates from Tri-Zen International in Singapore showed.
Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Vietnam and possibly Sri Lanka and the Philippines are expected to become LNG importers in the next few years, adding to rapidly growing Asian demand for the supercooled fuel.
Thailand's terminal comes ahead of projects in neighbouring Malaysia and Singapore. Malaysia is building a 3.8 million-tpy LNG terminal in western Malacca state, due for completion mid-next year and is studying for another one in southern Johor state.
Singapore, which aims to become a business centre for LNG, is expected to launch its 6 million-tpy terminal in early 2013.
GROWING THAI LNG DEMAND
Thailand's natural gas demand is expected to have a compound annual growth rate of 1 percent a year in the next 20 years to reach 5,236 million cubic feet per day (mmcfd) in 2030 on strong demand from power producers and the transport sector, PTT data released in June showed.
PTT, the country's sole gas supplier, posted a 9 percent rise in gas sales to 4,145 mmcfd in the first quarter, implying robust domestic demand as a result of strong economic growth.
Thailand's LNG consumption will likely be further boosted by a government decision to postpone the planned start of the country's first nuclear power plant by three years to 2023 due to safety concerns after Japan's nuclear crisis sparked by the tsunami in March.
PTT Chief Executive Prasert Bunsumpun has said the company may import as much as 10 million tonnes of LNG a year in the future to serve strong domestic demand since nuclear power plant projects have been delayed.
PTT shares, which ended up 0.3 percent at 334 baht on Friday, have fallen 13 percent since late April.
Thailand currently uses natural gas to generate about 70 percent of its electricity. The rest comes from sources such as coal and hydropower plus imports from neighbouring countries.
The country also has domestic natural gas supplies to feed its power needs. U.S. energy major Chevron Corp said in January it aimed to start gas production at the $3.1 billion Platong 2 project in the Gulf of Thailand later this year, ahead of schedule, with production to eventually hit 330 million cubic feet per day.