Thai firm ponders buying Natuna natural gas
Thai firm ponders buying Natuna natural gas
BANGKOK (Reuter): State-owned Petroleum Authority of Thailand (PTT) is considering a proposal from Exxon Corp of the United States to buy natural gas from the giant Natuna field to be developed in Indonesia, a PTT official said yesterday.
"The PTT is still studying prices of the natural gas developed from the Natuna gas field in Indonesia proposed by Exxon a few months ago and whether the (state) Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand is willing to buy it or not," Vichit Yamboonruang, PTT's executive director of exploration and gas sector, told Reuters.
The Natuna field, in Indonesian waters, has proven natural gas reserves of 20 trillion cubic feet and may hold as much as 40-50 trillion cubic feet, according to PTT Exploration and Production Co Ltd.
Exxon had earlier approached PTT Exploration and Production, a unit of PTT, to invest in the Natuna field, Vichit said.
"PTT has already asked EGAT (the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand) whether it wants to buy natural gas from Natuna for use in generating electricity or not," said Vichit, adding that currently Thailand was not facing a shortage of natural gas.
According to PTT, Thailand now consumes the equivalent of 147,660 barrels of oil per day.
"PTT may not buy the natural gas from the Natuna field if EGAT or the government doesn't want it," Vichit said, adding that his office was waiting for the reply from EGAT.
Developing the giant Natuna field and constructing plants to liquefy the natural gas for tanker shipment will cost an estimated US$40 billion with the first gas expected to be delivered to Asian buyers around 2003/2004.
Exxon signed an agreement with Indonesian state oil company Pertamina in 1994 to exploit Natuna.
Each owns 50 percent of the field, located about 1,100 km (683 miles) north of Jakarta, but Pertamina has said it wants to reduce its stake to 11 percent and has discussed its share divestment with Mobil Corp and several Japanese firms.
A Pertamina official said last week that the company hoped to have more meetings with Thai officials in August to discuss a pipeline from Natuna to Thailand.