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.