Trans-ASEAN gas studied

Trans-ASEAN gas studied

MANILA (AFP): Trans Energy of France is studying the natural gas industry in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to determine the feasibility of a trans-ASEAN pipeline, a Filipino energy official said yesterday.

ASEAN groups natural gas exporters Brunei, Indonesia and Malaysia along with the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.

The region is one of the most economically dynamic in the world and is believed to have sufficient natural gas reserves to meet growing energy demand.

Philippine Undersecretary of Energy Rufino Bomasang said the study was commissioned about two months ago by the ASEAN-European Community Energy Management Training and Research Center based in Jakarta.

Bomasang, a member of a steering committee of the center, said he expected the study to be finished in a year, but did not give any cost.

He said the study took off from a proposal about four years ago to build a trans-ASEAN pipeline to optimize the use of the region's natural gas resources.

Bomasang said the study aims to "review the present and future gas supply and demand in each country and in the entire region and the existing logistical facilities ... to be able to transport gas from the producing countries to the using countries."