Myanmar LNG import tender could launch by end April amid wide interest: law firm
Myanmar’s official LNG import tender could be launched by the end of April, with 8-10 submitters of Expressions of Interest or EOIs potentially selected to receive the tender, Yangon-headquartered legal firm VDB Loi said last Friday.The tender could take a year to be awarded, according to the presentation by VDB Loi in Singapore.A local partner was not required and LNG imports could begin in 2020, according to VDB Loi Senior Partner Edwin Vanderbruggen.In a call with S&P Global Platts, Vanderbruggen said Myanmar’s government was also considering further liberalizing the country’s electricity market and, in particular, allowing 100% foreign ownership of the country’s transmission and distribution networks.Over 100 EOIs were submitted by the October 28, 2016, deadline to supply LNG to Myanmar, according to VDB Loi.Myanmar’s Ministry of Electricity and Energy or MOEE LNG Business Sector Implementation and Development Central Committee has authority over the tender process.VDB Loi also listed four possible sites for the FSRU to be located, involving an FSRU either moored or at a jetty, on Kalgauk Island, KyaukPhyu or Ngayok Bay.
In November 2016, a World Bank workshop featured an FSRU in Myanmar with a 500 MMcf/day regas capacity.There will likely be a separate tender issued for a gas-fired power project in Myanmar.Platts Analytics expects Myanmar could begin importing LNG in the early 2020s.