Thai state energy firm PTT PCL has won approval to buy a total 2 million tonnes a year of liguefied natural gas (LNG) from Shell Eastern Trading (PTE) and BP Singapore PTE in long-term contracts, the energy minister said on Thursday.
Shell Eastern and BP will supply 1 million tonnes each to state-controlled PTT from 2017, Energy Minister Narongchai Akrasanee told reporters after a meeting of the ministry’s policy and planning office.
As part of the 15-to-20 year contracts, PTT will import 0.5 million tonnes of LNG from Shell Eastern and 0.317 million tonnes from BP in April 2016, Narongchai said.
The Thai energy firm will officially sign contracts with the two suppliers after drafts are cleared by the Office of Attorney General, the minister said.
PTT, Thailand’s sole gas supplier, has been in talks with several companies to import LNG to offset a decline in domestic resources and to secure long-term supply.
PTT has a 20-year contract to buy 2 million tonnes of LNG a year from Qatar starting this year.
Natural gas is used for almost 70 percent of Thailand’s power generation.
About a fifth of supplies are piped from Myanmar but imports from this neighbouring country are likely to fall as it is expected to use more of its natural gas resources for its own development.
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