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Thailand Expects Bright Prospects for New Natural Gas Field in Myanmar

Posted on: Sunday, 8 January 2006, 09:00 CST

Thailand expects bright prospects for new natural gas field in Myanmar

BANGKOK, Jan. 7 (Xinhua) -- Thailand could have abundant natural gas in reserve if a field being explored jointly by Thailand and Myanmar inside Myanmar delivers what early signs promise as a considerable quantity of natural gas, Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said Saturday.

Urging consumers to continue conserving energy as global oil prices continue to rise due both to higher consumption and speculation by hedge funds in developed countries, Thaksin said during his weekly radio address that his government is following guidelines given by the King last Dec. 4 on promoting production of energy alternatives such as bio-diesel and gasohol.

Natural gas exploration currently being conducted jointly by Thailand and Myanmar could produce large quantities of natural gas and could be used in Thailand, he said.

Meanwhile, Chitrapong Kwangsukstith, Senior Executive Vice President of PTT's Gas Business Group, said he believed the natural gas well that the prime minister referred to was one in a field in which PTT Exploration and Production Public Company Limited (PTTEP) had increased its investment stakes on four concession areas inside Myanmar -- areas which had shown bright prospects of having a large amount of natural gas reserves that could be used by both countries.

Chitrapong said some foreign investors had also informed PTT that they had discovered a large amount of natural gas in Myanmar and were willing to sell the gas to Thailand.

If true, Thailand would have large natural gas reserves and could be less dependent on oil, said Chitrapong, adding that PTT's third natural gas pipeline being built onshore could be completed this month, while construction of the offshore section would be finished by mid 2006.

Extending gas pipelines to industrial plants and industrial estates would save Thailand oil import bills of some 30 billion Baht (about 732 million US dollars) annually in the next five years, he said.

The total length of the pipeline now under construction is about 300 km -- when tallied with the existing 700-km pipeline would mean a total of more than 1,000 km of natural gas trunkline delivery capacity.

Regarding using natural gas for vehicles (NGVs), Chitrapong said that about 10,300 cars had been equipped with NGV systems during 2005, and that 60,000 to 70,000 cars are expected to be converted to the system this year.

The PTT executive said he expects more than half a million cars will install NGV systems in the next five years, which could save Thailand 90-100 billion Baht (about 2.2-2.4 billion US dollars) annually on oil imports.

Source: Xinhua News Agency - CEIS

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