On 7th January Qatargas delivered the first cargo of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) under the long-term Sale and Purchase Agreement (SPA) between Qatar Liquefied Gas Company Limited and PTT Public Company Ltd. to the Kingdom of Thailand’s Map Ta Phut LNG receiving terminal. The cargo arrived aboard of a Q-FLEX LNG vessel Al Ghariya, the company said in its press release.
On 8 January 2015 Qatargas hosted a ceremony at Map Ta Phut LNG receiving terminal to mark the occasion. The event was attended by H.E. Narongchai Akrasanee, Minister of Energy of the Kingdom of Thailand, Dr. Pailin Chuchottaworn President & CEO of PTT Public Company Limited, PTT Senior Management and representatives from PTT LNG (Terminal Operator). From Qatargas, Khalid Bin Khalifa Al-Thani, Qatargas Chief Executive Officer, H.E. Jabor Bin Ali Al-Dosari, Ambassador of Qatar in the Kingdom of Thailand and other Senior Management were also present.
To highlight this important occasion, Khalid Bin Khalifa Al-Thani, Qatargas Chief Executive Officer said:
“This is an important milestone for Qatargas. Not only are we honored to have been the first supplier of LNG to the Kingdom of Thailand, today we celebrate the delivery of the first LNG cargo under the SPA agreement which was signed back in 2012. This demonstrates our commitment and further strengthens the relationship between both companies over the long-term. We are very pleased that LNG from Qatar continues to contribute towards meeting the growing demand for energy. This achievement highlights Qatargas’ capability to supply LNG to customers around the globe safely and reliably”.
In 2011, Qatargas delivered the first commissioning cargo to Thailand’s first and only LNG receiving terminal Map Ta Phut. Since then, Qatargas has supplied the majority of spot cargoes to PTT, in total Qatargas has supplied PTT with 27 spot cargoes.
In December 2012, Qatargas 3 and PTT Company Limited signed an SPA to deliver two million tonnes per annum (MTA) of LNG for a period of 20 years beginning from 2015. This agreement marked PTT’s first long-term LNG SPA and Qatargas’ first long-term agreement in South-East Asia.
The current capacity of Map Ta Phut LNG Receiving Terminal is five MTA and PTT has plans to increase this capacity to ten MTA. The terminal is currently compatible with Q-Flex vessels with plans to receive Q-max vessels in the future.
Qatargas sees the Kingdom of Thailand as an evolving LNG market and recognizes its growth potential within South East Asia.