Other than coal and oil, Thailand is using other energy commodities namely natural gas to produce electricity. The kingdom currently needs to import roughly 40% of its consumption (4,000 mmscfd: million standard cubic feet per day) of LNG (liquefied natural gas).
The lesser gas production from the Erawan field that the American big oil company, Chevron, used to operate for 40 years has prompted Thai big oil explorers to seek more opportunities, as the handover and transfer delay has dropped the source production down from 1200 mmscfd in 2019 to 400 mmscfd in mid-2023.
PTT Exploration and Production (SET: PTTEP)’s CEO Montri Rawanchaikul told Reuters at the sidelines of Abu Dhabi’s flagship energy industry conference ADIPEC on Monday that PTTEP may extend its contracts of two gas fields in Myanmar as both would end in 2028 and 2044. The said two fields could supply 50% of Myanmar’s electricity and 20% of Thailand’s, which is critical to both countries energy security.
Two out of three gas blocks in Thailand have already been auctioned and secured by PTTEP. Both sources expect production within two years.
Big oil explorer’s CEO also said that PTTEP needs to explore more new areas as the current gas production isn’t enough for the country, thus the needed LNG imports to compensate.
“And then we put a lot of exploration effort in Malaysia as well because we believe that we still have gas in Malaysia, and Malaysia can actually turn the gas into LNG to export” using liquefaction terminals, Rawanchaikul told Reuters.
