Lower gas demand in Q4 expected to hit PTT's 2011 revenue

Pailin Chuchottaworn, president and chief executive officer, said yesterday that PTT’s performance during the first three quarters had been good.
PTT has set up a war room to monitor the distribution of natural gas and other fuel to ensure no shortages. PTT had to halt sales at 79 of its service stations nationwide because of the serious floods.
The petrochemical market is also suffering, as the floods have disrupted the supply chain.
“At present, 40-50 per cent of petrochemical products from PTT Group are for export. We can reduce the impact from floods by exporting more. So overall, our petrochemical business will not be hit,” he said.
PTT earned Bt67.05 billion on revenue of Bt1.2 trillion during the first half of this year. Last year, the company posted a net profit of Bt83.09 billion.
Wichai Pornkeratiwat, chief operating officer for the upstream petroleum and gas business group, said demand for natural gas had fallen to 4,020 cubic feet per day from the average of 4,200 after two power plants in Rojana Industrial Park and in Wang Noi were shut down.
Electricity consumption among industrial customers is down because factories in flood-hit areas cannot operate.
The winter season is also approaching, when demand for electricity will decline.
To address the shortage of natural gas for vehicles in western Bangkok after the closure of three mother stations in Pathum Thani, PTT is bringing in NGV from the east. NGV supply is now slashed by 1,000 tonnes a day, from 7,000 tonnes.
Motorists are urged to go to NGV stations along the main pipeline, or those on Bang Na-Trat Road and at Suvarnabhumi Airport.
Sukrit Surabotsopon, senior executive vice president for the petrochemical and refining business unit, said domestic sales of the company’s petrochemical subsidiaries had declined by 10 per cent. However, it is accelerating exports to help offset the falling sales.