Emergency energy plan in place
The Energy Ministry is preparing for the possible temporary closure of the strategically important Strait of Hormuz in the Middle East, and is confident it will be able to handle such an eventuality after developing an emergency plan with a number of key
An emergency one-day exercise simulating events that could occur in the event of such a closure was held by the Office of Planning and Strategy of the Permanent Secretary Office at the beginning of the month.
The office had previously prepared guidelines that were implemented in the face of the energy crisis in 2009. That was a cooperative venture between Thailand and the International Energy Agency (IEA) to initiate a joint emergency response exercise.
The IEA sent experts to evaluate and analyse Thailand’s readiness to face an energy crisis. Thailand was the first non-member country that the international agency helped in developing such a plan.
The current objective of the Energy Ministry is to ensure energy organisations throughout the country are aware of a potential crisis and have a plan readily available to deal with possible problems.
The exercise early this month involved the most comprehensive set of participants to date. They included Energy Minister Arak Chonlatanon, Energy Ministry permanent secretary Norkun Sitthiphong and the top executives of state-run organisations: Pailin Chuchottaworn, president and chief executive officer of PTT, and Sutat Patmasirawat, governor of the State Railway Authority of Thailand.
The simulation looked at what would happen if the Strait of Hormuz were to be closed and the gas pipeline running through Myanmar were to be shut down for maintenance. The latter was actually due to happen from April 8 to 17.
An emergency plan has been developed, as follows:
_ The Mineral Fuels Department and major energy companies such as Chevron and PTT developed ideas for finding an alternative oil supply from other sources.
_ All petrol exports from Thailand would be prohibited during the crisis. Such a decision would be made at the government level. Laos, for example, receives 80 per cent of its petrol imports from Thailand and any decision would have to take this into account.
_ Cooperation would be sought from all the country’s refineries to produce at full capacity of 900,000 barrels per day, which would provide for 130 to 150 days of consumption.
_ The biggest concern is supplies of liquefied petroleum gas, since LPG accounts for 20 per cent of Thailand’s fuel imports. To extend LPG usage for the longest possible period of time, petrochemical industries would be asked to reduce their consumption by 20 per cent, and by up to 40 per cent in the worst case.
However, according to petrochemical companies, they would have shut down operations sooner, because their engines are designed to run on fuel with a minimum of 60-per-cent LPG.
In addition, the Energy Business Department asked other LPG providers that own gas carriers, such as Siam Gas, to increase their imports by up to 10,000 tonnes to help PTT. PTT could then relax production and store LPG in the sea, where it already has 40,000 tonnes of the gas stored.
_ With regards to electricity, there would be an increase from neighbouring countries’ hydropower plants such as the Nam Theun2, Nam Ngem2 and Hoyhoh. Also, purchases from small producers could account for an additional 300 megawatts.
_ Fuel oil and diesel would be preserved in a cooperative agreement between Bangchak Petroleum and PTT. It is estimated that about 20 million litres of fuel will be required per day in case of an emergency.
_ Other measures would be strictly enforced. These include department stores being required to reduce air-conditioning to 25-27 degrees, and in some areas to turn it off. Major stores would also be closed at 8pm instead of 10pm.
_ In the event of petrol rationing, public transport would get priority.
_ The Energy Ministry will prepare a list of generators with a capacity of more than 100 kilowatts that are used by hotels or industrial plants, so they can be deployed to supply power in crisis areas of the country.
_ Collaboration among national organisations, including the Interior Ministry, Customs Department and the National Police, would be encouraged to help reduce energy consumption across the country.
Energy Minister Arak, who chaired the exercise, said: “This is like doing homework, and we must prepare for it [closure of the Strait of Hormuz]. It will help us get through any actual problems that need to be solved.
“Of course, a real crisis would be more stressful than this simulation, but it will allow us to at least anticipate problems and possible solutions before they happen.”
Thailand imports about 900,000 barrels of crude oil per day, of which 500,000 barrels pass through the Strait of Hormuz, which links the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, passing between Iran on the north and Oman and the UAE on the south.
If the waterway were to be closed because of tensions in the Middle East, Thailand has set a target of having 60 days of petrol consumption in reserve and no shortage of household gas supplies. Steps have been taken to make sure the Energy Ministry can handle the situation without causing panic, Arak said.
He said he believed any closure of the strait would not last for more than two weeks. He feels sure the United States and Arab countries on the Persian Gulf would not allow such a situation to go on for too long before taking action.
