PTTEP forecasts sales to grow by 10% next year
PTT Exploration and Production expects its sales volume to grow by 10 per cent next year from an estimated 269,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day this year thanks to the commencement of three operations.
Anon Sirisaengtaksin, president and CEO of PTTEP, said yesterday that the company would start operating its Montara project in Australia by the end of the first quarter or early second quarter of next year and the Bongkot South field in Thailand in the first quarter.
Montara will have the capacity to produce 30,000-40,000 BOED, and Bongkot South 320 BOED.
In Vietnam, PTTEP will run its 16-1 field at 40,000 BOED for the full year next year, up from 30,000 BOED this year. The Vietnam 16-1 field came online last quarter.
Although the company expects next year’s output to increase, global oil prices were viewed as softening due to the dimming outlook for the global economy and energy demand.
PTTEP predicts the average global oil price next year at US$80-$90 per barrel compared with more than $100 per barrel this year.
“Global oil demand in 2012 was forecast to grow by 2 per cent, but now many energy experts have adjusted the estimate to about 1 per cent,” Anon said.
The company’s plans to acquire more assets were now a little shaky because of the deteriorating economic environment. Although the plans are set with a long investment horizon, the company has to review them every year.
“We have to stay still at this time and keep a close eye on the market situation. We don’t think that we will mobilise funds this year,” he said.
However, PTTEP expects to conclude the deal to divest some of its stake in the M11 petroleum field in Burma to foreign investors this year. The company is considering proposals from three to four investors. This should bring some money to the company by year-end.
Asset divestment is one of the company’s choices to raise funds for spending on mergers and acquisitions. PTTEP will retain 40 per cent of the M11 gas field and sell 35 per cent to investors. The remaining 25 per cent belongs to the Burmese government.
Songphop Polachan, director-general of the Mineral Fuels Department, said the department would open bidding for oil and gas exploration and production field concessions by year-end.
This round is for 21 fields, of which 10 are in the Northeast, five in the Gulf of Thailand and six in the Central region.
The Platong 2 petroleum field operated by Chevron Thailand Exploration and Production would begin feeding 330 cubic feet per day of natural gas by the end of this month, while PTTEP’s Bongkot South field would kick off commercial production in the first quarter of next year, he added.
