Thailand's PTT considers taking stake in Malaysia gas facility

7/20/2017

BANGKOK (Reuters) — Thailand's state-owned oil and gas giant PTT Plc is considering taking a stake in a natural gas liquefaction plant to be built in Malaysia, a company spokesman said on Thursday.

PTT's board will on Friday consider the project, to be built with Malaysia's Petronas, making a decision on the size of any potential stake, the spokesman added.

That came after the Bangkok Post on Wednesday cited Wirat Uanarumit, chief operating officer of PTT's upstream petroleum and gas business, as saying that the company was looking to hold a 10% stake in the new facility.

Petronas did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Reuters.

Last month, PTT and PTTEP Exploration and Production, its upstream arm, jointly established PTT Global LNG, which would be expected to hold any stake in the Malaysia terminal.

PTT has a growing interest in importing natural gas for power generation as domestic sources begin to dwindle.

The company is seen as a potential buyer of the SK316 natural gas block in Malaysia's Sarawak.

Reporting by Chayut Setboonsarng; Editing by Joseph Radford