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.