Unocal Thailand has boosted gas deliverability from Gulf of Thailand fields to replace Thai power plants' fuel oil supplies lost to the Persian Gulf crisis.
Unocal last month ramped up Thai offshore gas flow by about 9% to 610 MMcfd in response to a request by state owned Petroleum Authority of Thailand (PTT).
The increase was made possible by accelerating by 1 month the start-up of a gas compressor platform installed in the central processing complex in Erawan field. The $28.5 million cost of the project will be shared equally by the two companies.
The added gas will offset the loss of fuel oil supplies from the state owned refinery at Bangchak.
The plant is one of the country's three refineries hit by the loss of crude supplies resulting from an international embargo of Iraq and Kuwait in response to Iraq's invasion and takeover of Kuwait.
PROJECT DETAILS
PTT earlier had planned to run a pig to inspect its 425 km subsea pipeline from Erawan to the eastern seaboard near Rayong before taking on the added gas flow.
That would have pushed the start-up into this month.
Instead, Unocal began hiking Erawan flow in 10 MMcfd increments beginning Aug. 30.
Unocal said the phased start-up will allow initial testing of operations and equipment on the compressor platform as well as smooth introduction of additional gas to PTT's processing plant at Rayong and other onshore sites.
The new compression facilities will allow a further increase in the Erawan pipeline's capacity to more than 800 MMcfd from about 540 MMcfd.
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