National oil and gas conglomerate PTT Plc is calling on qualified engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) firms to take part in the bidding process for the 30.4-billion-baht expansion of Rayong's liquefied natural gas (LNG) receiving terminal.
Several EPC firms bought auction papers recently. The winning firm will be selected soon and will start working on the project early next year, said PTT project manager Rattikool Piyavongwanich.
After the expansion, Nong Fab's LNG receiving terminal will be the second PTT receiving terminal to reach six kilometres in length. It will be much longer than the existing LNG receiving terminal in Rayong's Map Ta Phut subdistrict.
The project is expected to start operating in 2021, Mr Rattikool said. Among other things, the winning firm will build equipment, office space, an open-rack vaporiser, a storage tank and jetties.
The environmental impact assessment for the project is being conducted concurrently with the bidding process, Mr Rattikool said.
PTT just finished the second phase of its first LNG receiving unit in Map Ta Phut and will officially open it soon. The development expanded the regasification unit to 10 million tonnes a year, worth 21.4 billion baht.
Map Ta Phut's first-phase unit has been regasifying 5 million tonnes a year since November 2011. The 1-billion-baht third phase began last year. The project, which will add 1.5 million tonnes in capacity, is 45% complete and will start full operations by 2019.
Together, the projects in Map Ta Phut and Nong Fab will raise capacity to 19 million tonnes a year in 2021.
"If demand surpasses our expectations, the Nong Fab unit can double its capacity to 15 million tonnes per year," Mr Rattikool said.
The depletion of gas resources in the Gulf of Thailand and Myanmar's Martaban Sea, plus delays in development of coal-fired power plants, will push LNG to a prominent role in the Thai power market, he said.
In order to capitalise on the trend, PTT recently set up PTT Global LNG Co.
The firm will oversee LNG marketing and trading, in line with the goal of expanding the Rayong gas complex's capacity.