Bangkok: Declining pipeline supply from Myanmar could cause PTT, Thailand’s national oil and gas company, to increase its imports of LNG from 1.4m tonnes last year to 3m tonnes in 2015.
PTT received its first long-term contractual delivery of LNG from Qatar on January 8 when Qatargas’s Q-flex LNG carrier Al Ghariya unloaded 90,000 tonnes of LNG at PTT's 5m tpa Map Ta Phut terminal in Rayong.
The cargo is the first of a long-term sales and purchase agreement (SPA) signed in 2012 to supply 2m tpa of LNG for the next 20 years.
Sources told Platts today that PTT could secure up to 1m tonnes of extra LNG through spot purchases or additional term volumes, but this is largely dependent on the rate of Thailand’s economic growth.
Myanmar has been increasingly been diverting LNG volumes to its domestic market, which has tightened supply to Thailand. The country receives 25% of its LNG via pipeline from Myanmar.
Qatargas supplied Thailand with 1.4m tonnes of LNG in 2014, and provides the country with the majority of its LNG supply. [09/01/15]
RELATED STORIES:
PTT almost ready to announce third LNG terminal in Thailand
