Nong Fab contract awarded

LNG terminal in hands of Italian-led venture

PTT Plc, the national oil and gas firm, has awarded a 38.5-billion-baht contract for engineering, procurement and construction of the Nong Fab terminal to store liquefied natural gas (LNG).

The contract was granted to Italian oil and gas contractor Saipem’s joint venture with Taiwanese construction firm, CTCI Corporation, which is held by the SPCC conglomerate.

PTT’s wholly owned subsidiary PTT LNG Co awarded the contract.

The Nong Fab facility is the second unit of PTT’s LNG receiving terminal in Rayong province, with a capacity of 7.5 million tonnes of LNG imports per year. This project is expected to be completed within 2022.

The first unit in Rayong’s Map Ta Phut has a capacity of 10 million tonnes per year, and this facility is expanding capacity by another 1.5 million to 11.5 million tonnes within 2019.

After operations at the two LNG receiving terminal units commence in 2022, the Nong Fab and Map Ta Phut facilities will have a combined capacity of 19 million tonnes per year.

The LNG is a substitute for natural gas, sources of which are expected to be depleted in the Gulf of Thailand over the next few years, creating the need for rapid expansion in LNG.

Earlier this year, PTT awarded Tokyo Gas Energy Solutions, a unit of Japan’s Tokyo Gas, a project management consultancy at the Nong Fab receiving terminal.

This expansion of PTT’s LNG import facility is expected to be carried out alongside plans for trading LNG in Southeast Asia, instead of focusing only on imports for the country’s power generation.

Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (Egat) has been assigned to development of a state-run power generation business for a floating storage regasification unit (FSRU) with the capacity of 5 million tonnes per year to serve two Egat power plants near Bangkok.

PTT and Egat will also conduct a feasibility study for an FSRU in the South and in Myanmar.

In a related development, PTT yesterday submitted a letter to the Stock Exchange of Thailand to report the opening of its representative office in Shanghai, PTTOR China Co, an arm of PTT Oil and Retail Business Co (PTTOR).

The firm in China has registered capital of 80 million baht.

This move is part of PTT’s expansion for petroleum product sales in the China market, and auto lubrication products are the first venture in that country.

Buranin Rattanasombat, PTTOR’s senior executive vice-president for lubricants, said petroleum product sales in Thailand are close to saturation and sales growth is quite limited.

PTT shares closed yesterday on the Stock Exchange of Thailand at 52.25 baht, up 75 satang, in trade worth 3.07 billion baht.

In 2022, the Nong Fab and Map Ta Phut facilities will have a combined capacity of 19 million tonnes per year.