LNG

Thailand’s state-run energy firm, Public Company Exploration and Production (PTTEP), has awarded US engineers McDermott a sizeable contract for transportation, installation and commissioning of a project offshore the state of Sabah in east Malaysia.

Thailand’s state-run energy firm, Public Company Exploration and Production (PTTEP), has ramped up offshore domestic natural gas production and the nation is expected to require less LNG after last year’s surge of more than 32 percent in additional cargoes.

PTTEP said production has increased at the G1-61 gas project comprising the Erawan, Platong, Satun and Funan fields in the Gulf of Thailand.

The Thai company said that sales volume for the G1-61 project had now reached 800 million cubic feet per day (MMscf per day) as planned in a country were gas-fired generation is the main power source.

“The increased gas delivery will help lower electricity prices and enhance national energy security,” said PTTEP.

Domestic gas expansion

Montri Rawanchaikul, Chief Executive of PTTEP, noted that PTTEP won the bid for the G1/61 project in the Gulf of Thailand from the Department of Mineral Fuels in 2018 and signed the production sharing contract (PSC) in 2019.

“After becoming the operator, PTTEP put all its efforts into speeding up the production rate and improving the integrity of facilities and equipment to ensure safety,” Montri explained.

“To date, 12 wellhead platforms and subsea pipelines were installed, along with the drilling campaign of more than 300 producing wells,” he added.

“The gas delivery increased to 800 MMscf per day on March 20, 2024, to meet rising energy demand and support Thailand’s economy,” the CEO stated.

The natural gas supply for Thailand comes from a mix of domestic production sources, LNG imports and pipeline gas deliveries from neighbouring Myanmar.

The two Thai LNG import terminals have a combined six storage tanks and are operated by a PTTEP subsidiary, PTT LNG.

The LNG import facilities are called Map Ta Phut Terminal 1 and Map Ta Phut Terminal 2 with nominal capacities of 11.5 MTPA and 7.5 MTPA respectively.

The country imported 11.55 million tonnes of LNG in 2023, up more than 32 percent year-on-year from the 8.72MT received in 2022.

In addition to the rising natural gas production Thailand also imports around 588 MMcf per day of natural gas from Myanmar.

Analysts said that the outlook for LNG imports in 2024 could be more subdued than in 2023 owing to the Ministry of Energy's plans to minimize LNG deliveries and reduce power costs.

Gas priority

“Increasing natural gas delivery from the G1-61 Project has been PTTEP’s priority over the past two years,” CEO Montri said.

“As gas from the Gulf of Thailand is a primary source of energy serving both households and industries, PTTEP, therefore has accelerated all operations,” he added.

“This achievement is attributed to the determination of all employees and supports from the government and related agencies to not only mitigate the impact of energy prices but also sustain energy security for the country,” Montri declared.

PTTEP will continue its annual workplan by installing new wellhead platforms and drilling the hundreds of new wells for the G1-61 project.

The CEO stated that for 2024 funds of around 30 billion Thai baht ($830 million) had been set aside for the G1-61 project work plan as it was one of the primary sources of Thailand’s energy security.

TotalEnergies, the operator of the Mozambique onshore liquefied natural gas project, is moving towards re-starting the joint venture once the recommendations of a commissioned humanitarian report are carried out during 2023.

Technip Energies, the French-listed energy and LNG engineering company, said it was awarded a contract by a unit of Thailand’s national energy company for a gas plant near the Malaysian LNG export facilities at Bintulu in the state of Sarawak.

Thailand’s Public Company Exploration and Production (PTTEP), the Asian nation’s national energy provider with increasing natural gas and LNG stakes, said it was gearing up to develop a carbon-capture and storage (CCS) project in a gas field offshore Thailand.

Japanese LNG industry participants, export plant operator Inpex Corp. and engineering company JGC Holdings are teaming up with the Thai national energy provider, which has increasing natural gas and LNG stakes, to develop a carbon-capture and storage (CCS) project in Thailand.

Thailand’s Public Company Exploration and Production (PTTEP) has stakes in Malaysian floating LNG as well as in Mozambique LNG and is taking over the operatorship of the main natural gas field in neighbouring Myanmar.

While all three companies are heavily involved in the energy transition on fuels in their promotion of LNG and pipeline gas, with Inpex operating the Ichthys LNG plant near Darwin in Australia and JGC being a builder of LNG plants and terminals, they are now exploring Southeast Asian CCS prospects.

They said the potential development of the CCS project in Thailand would help reduce greenhouse-gas emissions and accelerate the decarbonization of Thai industries and the country as a whole.

Studies and solutions

Inpex, JGC and PTTEP have now signed an accord on the Thailand Carbon-Capture and Storage Initiative, which aims to study the potential development of CCS solutions to help industries including the oil and gas sector, hard-to-abate industries and power generation reduce their carbon-dioxide emissions.

CCS involves capturing CO2 from industrial processes before it enters the atmosphere and transporting the CO2 for underground storage in geological formations where they will be appropriately managed and monitored.

“The collaboration will involve identifying and evaluating facilities as well as procedures and technologies concerning CCS to build economically viable CCS solutions for Thailand,” said a statement.

PTTEP said the initiative reflected its determination to take part in regional efforts to manage and mitigate GHG impacts.

“We have the potential to help industries and Thailand reduce carbon emissions and achieve carbon neutrality goals,” the Thai company added.

Reforms

Inpex said it was proactively engaging in energy structure reforms towards the realization of a net-zero carbon society by 2050 while responding to the energy demands of Japan and other countries.

“The company aims to create clean energy business opportunities centred on CCS in Thailand with a view to expanding these opportunities to other parts of Asia,” said Inpex, whose headquarters are in Minato City in Tokyo.

JGC, based in Yokohama, noted that among the three it had “a rich track record” of building CCS facilities not only in Japan, but also in Algeria and Australia.

“The company also provides technical consulting services with energy and environmental themes, combining various methods such as surveys, analysis and evaluation, simulation, and risk assessment, and contributing to the realization of CCS through the provision of a wide range of solutions,” it explained.

This Japanese corporate collaboration on the Thailand CCS initiative is linked to the Asia Energy Transition Initiative (AETI), a plan unveiled by the Government of Japan in 2021 that aims to help achieve sustainable economic growth and carbon neutrality in Asia through energy transitions. 

Thailand’s state-owned energy company said the Yadana natural gas project in neighbouring Myanmar was key to the energy security of both Southeast Asian nations and the Thais will take over the operatorship after the withdrawal of France’s TotalEnergies over human rights issues.

US major Chevron Corp. and French major TotalEnergies will both withdraw from Myanmar citing worsening human rights conditions, though the national energy company of Thailand will remain for reasons of energy security and to protect the regional power needs and jobs of ordinary people.

PTT Group, the national energy company of Thailand, has started a joint venture with Tokyo Gas to help with fuel switching in the southeast Asian nation, including small-scale truck deliveries of liquefied natural gas.

Petronas, the Malaysian oil and gas company and LNG exporter and developer, is assessing front-end engineering and design (FEED) tenders for its third floating LNG production hull.