Thailand's largest energy firm PTT has not cancelled any long-term contracts to buy liquefied natural gas (LNG) from top exporter Qatar, a senior PTT executive said.
"For the long term, we are still talking but I don't want to touch on the details. There is no cancellation," Terdkiat Prommool, vice president of PTT's LNG supply department, told reporters on the sidelines of an industry conference.
Other PTT executives had said earlier this month that a deal to buy 1 million tonnes a year of LNG from Qatar was scrapped after a recent price surge, and that the firm has signed alternative contracts with two suppliers.
Rising LNG demand in the wake of the March 11 earthquake in Japan had pushed up LNG prices in recent months to more than $16 per million British thermal unit (mmBtu), from $7-8 mmBtu during the pre-quake period.
Terdkiat said state-controlled PTT has mid-term contract commitments for LNG supplies covered for the next year and is still in talks with other suppliers beyond 2012.
Thailand will import roughly a cargo a month of the super-cooled gas, or around 15 cargoes per year to cover its 1 million tonne-per-year (mtpa) demand, he said, adding that demand will grow to 3 mtpa by 2015.
The company is considering injecting $400 million to double the capacity of the country's first LNG terminal, which was officially opened early this month, to 10 million tonnes by 2016.
Thailand is among a growing number of new LNG buyers in Asia as imports of the cleaner-burning fuel allow countries to diversify away from oil and coal.
