Private sector role in pipeline sought

Private sector role in pipeline sought

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuter): ASEAN energy ministers called yesterday
for private sector help to build a proposed US$15 billion
regional gas pipeline to meet rising power demand in Southeast
Asia.

"The ministers...agreed that the private sector be encouraged
to participate in the linking of the proposed Trans-ASEAN Gas
Pipe System which has been found to be feasible," the ministers
said in a joint statement issued at the end of a one-day meeting
here.

ASEAN, the Association of South East Asian Nations, groups
Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand
and Vietnam.

A senior ASEAN official at the meeting said the proposed
pipeline would cost around $15 billion.

ASEAN senior officials were also continuing discussions on a
region-wide electricity grid linking the seven member nations,
officials at the meeting said.

Currently, the only international gas pipeline in the region
is between Malaysia and Singapore though several other ASEAN
members are developing or expanding domestic pipeline systems to
tap new found gas reserves and lessen their dependence on oil and
coal.

Gas is cleaner burning than other fossil fuels. It is mainly
used in the sweltering tropics to generate electricity, for which
ASEAN's booming economies have an insatiable demand.

When opening the meeting, Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister
Anwar Ibrahim urged ASEAN countries to make the pipeline project
a top priority.

He said a study had indicated that total gas demand in ASEAN
countries will jump more than six fold to 150 million tons of oil
equivalent by the year 2020 from 23 million tons currently.

"If all the demand centers are to be adequately supplied,
there is an urgent need for regional infrastructures such as the
Trans-ASEAN Gas Pipeline. ASEAN member countries will have to
view the pipeline project with greater urgency than before and
expedite its implementation," Anwar said.

Briefing reporters at the end of the meeting, Malaysian
Energy, Telecommunications & Posts Minister, Leo Moggie, said the
substantial volume of gas deposits in the region could be better
utilized by a pipeline linking the member nations.

Moggie said each member country has been urged to plan its
domestic power requirements to take into account a future link
with regional pipeline and electricity grids.

Malaysia has been asked to lead a task force that will pave
the way for the setting up of an ASEAN business forum to
facilitate private sector involvement in regional energy
projects, the statement said.

The planned ASEAN electricity grid would work along the lines
of the linked Malaysian, Singapore, Thailand electric power
grids, where power would be shared as needed, Moggie said.