Qatargas to send LNG cargo to Thai PTT terminal

DOHA: Qatargas will send a second cargo of liquefied natural gas to commission Thailand's first LNG import terminal, the company said on Thursday. Thai terminal operator PTT has already agreed to buy 1 million tonnes a year of Qatari LNG from late 2011. But the state-run Thai company needs additional super-cooled natural gas to prepare the new Map Ta Phut LNG import facility for the expected start of commercial operations in July.

"Qatargas is very pleased to have agreed to supply two commissioning cargos to Thailand's first LNG receiving terminal, the first of which has already been delivered," Qatargas said in an email to Reuters.

"We recognize the potential of the Thai market to absorb significant quantities of LNG and Qatargas seeks to further strengthen its relationship with PTT."

She did no say how much LNG -- gas cooled to liquid form for export by ship -- would be sent to Thailand to cool down and test the terminal in the Gulf of Thailand, or when it would arrive.

PTT plans to import 500,000 tonnes of LNG this year to feed Southeast Asia's first LNG terminal. Qatargas, one of two big producers in the world's biggest LNG exporting country, delivered its first commissioning cargo to the terminal in early June.

Thailand's top energy firm said on Wednesday it was freezing plans to work with Tokyo Gas Co on LNG supply because Japan's top city gas distributor needed to focus on satisfying its own increased LNG needs after the shutdown of many Japanese nuclear power plants following an earthquake in March. Thailand is among a growing number of new LNG buyers in Asia seeking cleaner-burning fuel to wean themselves off dirtier oil and coal.

Copyright Reuters, 2011