Sustainability with gas

Feb. 5, 2007
Prompted by recently high and volatile oil prices, many countries are questing for sustainability of energy supply.

Prompted by recently high and volatile oil prices, many countries are questing for sustainability of energy supply. According to Prasert Bunsumpun, president of PTT Public Co. Ltd., Bangkok, sustainable energy supply is “an integral link to economic development, especially for developing countries where energy intensity relative to economic growth is high.”

He believes that, for a country to achieve sustainability, “an equilibrium is required that addresses the security of energy supply, the affordability of energy, and the acceptability of environmental impact.”

Thailand has had trouble realizing this equilibrium in the past, Bunsumpun said at the December 2006 Gastech conference in Abu Dhabi.

For several years imported oil filled more than 90% of Thailand’s total energy demand. The country decreased dependency on oil to 50%, mostly still imported, by developing its natural gas industry.

Thailand began developing its natural gas in 1973. The country currently consumes about 3 bcfd of gas, 34% of total energy demand, Bunsumpun said. “To date, the use of domestic natural gas has reduced cumulative equivalent oil imports by about 1.8 billion bbl, equivalent to about $58 billion.”

Value of gas

“Our natural gas offers a secure domestic energy supply, competitive costs relative to imported oil, and an environmentally clean alternative to coal,” Bunsumpun said.

He pointed out that initially Thailand’s gas was valued as fuel-mainly as an oil substitute for power plants and industrial businesses. Through development of processing capacity, the rich gas now yields products such as LPG for industrial fuel and home use and feedstock for the petrochemical industry.

The Thai petrochemical industry has grown rapidly. According to Bunsumpun, it is capable of producing about 6 million tonnes/year of basic petrochemicals.

Over the next 5 years Thailand’s petrochemical industry will expand to become truly world-scale, Bunsumpun said. “We will become a top player in the region with a combined upstream production capacity of more than 10 million tonnes/year.”

Other industries

Gas has been key to Thailand’s economic growth and the development of one of the most advanced manufacturing industries in the region, Bunsumpun said, adding, “We plan to do significantly more with this strategic resource.”

In industrial markets, he said, gas will continue to replace oil in manufacturing facilities along the country’s onshore pipeline network. Industrial cogeneration will be promoted to increase energy efficiency.

In transportation, PTT, in cooperation with its partners and the Thai government, has been aggressively promoting the use of gas as an alternative transportation fuel.

“There are about 25,000 NGVs [natural gas vehicles] in the greater Bangkok area,” Bunsumpun said. According to government plans, the number will reach 500,000 by 2011. “The number of NGV fueling stations will need to grow from the current level of 90 sites to about 740 by 2010,” he said.

Gas still is a major fuel of power generation-the main driver for gas demand in Thailand. Through aggressive development of combined-cycle gas-turbine capacity, gas represents about 70% of the total generation fuel mix-the highest levels of gas penetration in the world, Bunsumpun said.

Maintaining sustainability

“Given limited growth potential of our domestic gas reserves,” Bunsumpun said, “we need to look beyond our own indigenous resources to ensure sustainable supply.” Among its other projects, PTT is developing an LNG project that will have an import facility with a capacity of 5 million tonnes/year, expandable to 10 million tonnes/year.

The facility is scheduled to distribute LNG to existing and new pipeline networks by 2011. PTT is securing LNG from suppliers in the Middle East, Asia, and Australia.

Bunsumpun said PTT’s gas development plan will involve more than $13 billion of investment in the next 5 years.

“Natural gas provides our country access to clean energy, increased national competitiveness, and contributes to the nation’s sustainable, economic, and social development,” he said. Thailand plans to emphasize gas use for many years and offers many opportunities for investment in gas-related projects.