Regional LNG: PTT awards contract for Thailand's first LNG terminal

Thai state oil, gas firm PTT PLC has awarded a US$600 million contract to South Korea's GS Engineering & Construction Corp. to build Thailand's first LNG receiving terminal on the eastern coast.

Construction of the 5 million tonnes/year facility in Rayong, about 200 km southeast of Bangkok, is due to start shortly for completion in mid-2011, PTT said in a statement released Friday.

PTT, through subsidiary PTT LNG Co., plans to double the terminal's capacity to 10 million tpy in a later stage as it ramps up LNG purchases from several sources to meet the country's rising gas demand.

PTT recently signed an agreement to import 1 MTPA of LNG from Qatargas Operating Co. for 10 years starting in early 2011 with an option to increase the volume to 2 MTPA.

PTT also has been in talks with other LNG suppliers in Indonesia, Australia, and the Middle East, as price disputes have bogged down the finalization of the 20-year supply of 3 MTPA from Iran's Pars LNG project.(*)