THAILAND LOOKS AT ITS ENERGY OPTIONS

Thailand is struggling to set a policy that will help it meet rising domestic energy needs in the increasingly energy competitive Far East. Sippanondha Ketudat, chairman of the Petroleum Authority of Thailand (PTT), said natural gas is the country's best energy option until 2005. Thailand has considerable gas reserves in the Gulf of Thailand, and petroleum companies have been stepping up exploration onshore and off the past few years.

Feb. 21, 1994

3 min read

Thailand is struggling to set a policy that will help it meet rising domestic energy needs in the increasingly energy competitive Far East.

Sippanondha Ketudat, chairman of the Petroleum Authority of Thailand (PTT), said natural gas is the country's best energy option until 2005.

Thailand has considerable gas reserves in the Gulf of Thailand, and petroleum companies have been stepping up exploration onshore and off the past few years.

PTT's energy, strategy will focus on accelerating use of its own gas while helping Malaysia and Myanmar develop gas resources for export to Thailand. It also will consider importing LNG from the Middle East and Far East.

The policy calls for Thailand to diversify its oil supplies and join oil development ventures in China, Viet Nam, and elsewhere.

WORLD BANK: GAS BEST CHOICE

Thailand's energy plan parallels a recent World Bank report that urged the country to focus on natural gas and resort to nuclear power as the last option.

The study suggested the country should drop a controversial plan to build six 1 million kw power plants during the next few decades because of the huge costs involved.

It said the most affordable option for whatever power generation projects Thailand chooses is a gas fired combined cycle plant, producing electricity at 4/kw hr. Next were lignite with desulfurization units at 4.9/kw hr, low sulfur coal with desulfurization units at 5.35.7/kw hr, and nuclear at 7.5 10/kw hr.

The World Bank study said if Thailand can't obtain gas from Malaysia or Myanmar it should import LNG. It estimated Thailand will need to import 4 million metric tons/year of LNG by 2000 and 8 million ions/year by 2005. Possible sources include Qatar, Malaysia, Australia, Brunei, Oman, and Abu Dhabi.

Indigenous gas, mostly, from the Gulf of Thailand, provides about 35% of Thailand's electricity supply.

OIL DOMINATES LONGER VIEW

For the longer term, the energy minister said oil will play a more dominant role. After 2001 Thailand will have to import more oil from the Middle East, about 90% of its energy requirements in 20062007.

PTT also is studying possible use of Venezuela's Orimulsion. Orimulsion, an emulsion of very heavy crude, water, and a surfactant, competes with coal as a boiler fuel.

Venezuela has plentiful prospective supplies of the fuel, with a resource of 267 billion bbl in the Orinoco heavy oil belt, and PTT officials think Orimulsion can be a competitive fuel if logistics are improved.