PTT Plc has signed an agreement with Qatar Liquefied Gas Ltd (Qatargas) to buy liquefied natural gas (LNG) over 20 years at an annual volume of 2 million tonnes, with the first delivery set for January 2015.
PTT president and CEO Pailin Chuchottaworn said in an issued statement this is Thailand's first long-term LNG contract. It will help ensure long-term national energy security. Production from the Gulf of Thailand and imports from neighbouring countries are inadequate, yet domestic gas demand keeps climbing due to economic growth.
Qatargas and PTT have maintained cordial relations since mid-2011, when it supplied the first commissioning LNG cargo for Asean's inaugural receiving terminal, in Map Ta Phut Industrial Estate in Rayong, Mr Pailin said in the statement.
"Qatargas has particularly helped Thailand by delivering LNG to make up for missing gas supplies from our transmission system, which was facing problems at the time. Successful cooperation between the two organisations, made possible with the support of both countries, is a milestone for a continued cordial partnership," he said.
Thailand's gas demand under the third revision of the Power Development Plan between 2010-2013 looks set to grow across the board in the power, industrial, petrochemical and transport sectors.
This would require Thailand to import more LNG in the future and to expand the LNG receiving terminal's capacity from 5 to 10 million tonnes a year, which is now planned for completion in 2017.
Qatar's national energy company, Qatargas is 70% owned by the Doha government and is the world's largest LNG producer and distributor, with a capacity equivalent to about 30% of worldwide LNG trade. It holds over 900 trillion cubic feet in gas reserves, enough to fulfill global projected demand for more than a century.