Gulf: Thailand’s third LNG terminal to launch commercial ops in 2029

Gulf Development announced this in a stock exchange filing on Tuesday.

Gulf MTP LNG Terminal (GMTP), is a joint venture company in which Gulf Development holds a 70 percent stake and PTT Tank Terminal holds a 30 percent stake.

The JV previously entered into a 35-year public private partnership (PPP) contract with the Industrial Estate Authority of Thailand (IEAT) to develop the project known as the Map Ta Phut industrial port development phase 3 project.

The project will be built in two phases.

The first phase included infrastructure works such as dredging and land reclamation, revetment construction, breakwater construction, service terminal, utility works, and other relevant works.

GMTP started land reclamation work in December 2021 and completed this phase in March 2025.

The second phase involves design, construction, and operation of the LNG terminal and regasification facilities (superstructure) on reclaimed land, with an initial capacity of at least 5 million tons per annum (for the first phase of the LNG terminal), expandable up to 10.8 mtpa.

$1.83 billion

Gulf Development said in the filing that GMT’s shareholders passed a resolution approving the project to proceed with the development of the LNG terminal and regasification facilities, with a total investment not exceeding 60 billion baht ($1.83 billion).

According to Gulf, the construction of the project is scheduled to begin in the fourth quarter of 2025, with commercial operations expected to start in the first quarter of 2029.

This terminal will become Thailand’s third LNG facility and will play a “critical” role in reinforcing national energy security, supporting the country’s growing gas demand across the industrial and power generation sectors.

Gulf said its investment in the Map Ta Phut project also further strengthens the group’s fully integrated energy value chain across its power generation and LNG terminal businesses.

The project’s primary target customers are domestic LNG shipper license holders, including affiliated companies such as Hin Kong Power (HKH) and Gulf LNG, both of which are expected to see continued growth in LNG import volumes in the future to serve as fuel for the group’s gas-fired power plants.

Thailand currently imports LNG via two import terminals operated by PTT.

These terminals include the first Map Ta Put LNG terminal (LMPT 1) with a capacity of 11.5 mtpa and the second Map Ta Phut LMPT2 LNG terminal, also known as the Nong Fab LNG terminal, with a capacity of 7.5 mtpa.

Gulf’s LNG business

Gulf currently holds licenses for the importation of LNG totaling 7.8 mtpa, to be used as fuel for Gulf PD, Gulf SRC, and Hin Kong power plants.

Earlier this year, Gulf and Ratch launched the second gas-fueled unit at their Hin Kong power plant.

Hin Kong Power, a joint venture owned 51 percent by Ratch and 49 percent by Gulf, started the sale of electricity generated from its unit 2 to the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT) on January 1, 2025.

This second unit has a contracted capacity of 700 MW and an installed capacity of 770 MW.

This follows the commercial operation start of its first unit with an installed capacity of 770 megawatts on March 31, 2024.

Hin Kong Power received its first LNG shipment at PTT’s Map Ta Phut Terminal 2 on February 28, 2024, and this shipment was used to commission the first unit.

With this shipment, Hin Kong Power became the first private company in Thailand to import an LNG cargo, according to the partners.

Earlier this year, Gulf also said that its unit, Gulf LNG, received its inaugural LNG cargo at the Map Ta Phut LNG Terminal 2.

Gulf purchased this LNG cargo from Adnoc Trading, a unit of UAE’s Adnoc.