Gas supply cut-off less severe than expected
Thailand consumed less bunker oil than expected for generating power during Myanmar's temporary suspension of natural-gas supplies from April 8-17, as power demand was lower than anticipated, the Energy Ministry said.
As a result, there will be little effect on the new round of electricity Ft (fuel tariff) calculations for the May-to-August period.
Maintenance of the Yadana and Yetakun gas fields in Myanmar reduced the supply by 1,100 million cubic feet per day (MMcf/d), obliging the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (Egat) to use other fuels such as bunker oil and diesel.
According to Egat, the country used 55.5 million litres of bunker oil during the period and 1.4 million litres of diesel, said Kurujit Nakornthap, deputy permanent secretary of the Energy Ministry. The country had reserved 77.8 million litres of bunker oil and 10.9 million litres of diesel to deal with the situation.
Kurujit said two gas fields in the Gulf of Thailand would also suspend production this year for maintenance. One is PTT’s Bongkot field, which will undergo maintenance from May 25-31, depriving the system of 630MMcf/d.
The other one is Chevron Thailand Exploration and Production’s Erawan field, which will undergo maintenance from August 1-8, cutting 612MMcf/d from the system. But Kurujit said the ministry could ask the operators of other gas fields to increase their production to offset this supply shortage.
