Qatargas and Egat joining forces for LNG business
State-owned Qatargas has teamed up with the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (Egat) to start a liquefied natural gas (LNG) business after Thai energy policymakers deregulated LNG import and gas facility businesses, including gas pipelines and LNG receiving terminals.
Both parties signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) last week to jointly identify and evaluate best practices in the LNG industry, particularly in sharing knowledge and expertise in procurement of LNG, transport, and floating storage and re-gasification units (FSRU).
The MoU included the possibility of supplying LNG to Thailand, Qatargas said.
Saad Sherida al-Kaabi, president and chief executive of Qatar Petroleum, said Qatargas has a rich history of collaborating with world-class organisations and looks forward to working with Egat to identify and evaluate future opportunities to supply Egat with
Qatari LNG.
“As a unique global energy operator in terms of size, service and reliability, Qatargas is very pleased to convey our deep commitment to working with Egat and identifying world-class LNG solutions that meet their business needs,” Mr Kaabi said.
He said the company is looking forward to the prospect of building a longterm supply relationship with Egat once it has identified the solution.
Kornrasit Pakchotanon, governor of Egat, said the company is pleased to collaborate with the world’s leading LNG supplier on technology and industry knowledge.
He said Egat is looking forward to learning from Qatargas’s expertise and developing business solutions together.
This will be Egat’s first step before diversifying into the fuel segment, in addition to coal mining in Thailand’s Lampang and Indonesia.
Thaworn Ngarnkanokwon, Egat’s deputy governor for the fuel segment, said the first lot of imported LNG is set at 1.5 million tonnes a year, in line with government approval since last July.
Egat has been granted a licence to operate a receiving terminal in Rayong for 38 years, starting in 2019, when the first cargo of imported LNG comes in.
Mr Thaworn said Egat designed the LNG feeding system for the South Bangkok Power Plant in Wang Noi and Bang Pakong, which are undergoing concept design and construction.
But Egat is asking the government to enact policies to allow Egat to diversify into LNG, as the existing Egat Act is limited to power generation.
Last month, Egat’s wholly owned Egat International Co also announced that it would conduct a feasibility study on LNG business with SET-listed Siam Gas and Petrochemical Plc, Thailand’s second-largest cooking gas trader by volume.
“We cannot disclose any further details, but the study will be carried out over 2018-19,” Mr Thaworn said.
Thailand’s only LNG receiving terminal in Rayong’s Map Ta Phut has a capacity of 11.5 million tonnes a year and is operated by national oil and gas conglomerate PTT Plc.
The first 5 million tonnes of capacity has been in operation since 2011, while the remaining 6.5 million tonnes is under construction, scheduled to operate next year.
The third receiving unit of a further 7.5 million tonnes at Rayong’s Nong Fab is undergoing concept design. Construction has been set for 2020 and operations are scheduled for 2023.
The combined three units will have a total LNG capacity of 19 million tonnes by 2023.