PTTEP tasked with joint investment study in Colombia
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Energy Minister Pongsak Ruktapongpisal will assign PTT Exploration and Production (PTTEP) to study the possibility of joint investment with Colombia in the South American country's active oil fields.
He is also urging PTTEP’s parent, PTT, to split off its gas transmission pipeline unit into a separate subsidiary.
Pongsak made the remarks after yesterday’s visit by Colombia’s ambassador to Thailand, Andellfo Jose Garcia Gonzales, who invited Thailand to join with the country’s national energy company to explore investment opportunities in petroleum and coal businesses in Colombia.
The country’s foreign minister is scheduled to visit the Kingdom from July 11 to 13, when he is expected to discuss a possible economic partnership between the two countries.
Pongsak said he would assign PTTEP to head a feasibility study into joint investment with Colombia in the petroleum business, focusing on oil fields that already yield output as such operations have a low risk and can immediately generate revenue.
Joint investment will not focus on oil exploration, which requires a long-term commitment before yielding a return, he added.
PTTEP currently undertakes exploration and production in 44 projects across 12 countries, totalling average sales of 275,923 barrel per day last year.
Colombia, which has a high economic growth rate, has estimated reserves of 1.9 billion barrels of crude oil and is the world’s fifth-largest oil exporter.
The country also has the largest coal reserves in Latin America and is the world’s sixth-largest coal exporter.
Moreover, the Latin American state is a major exporter of electricity, with sales to Brazil, Chile, Bolivia, Peru and Argentina.
Colombia also attaches importance to alternative energy sources such as shale gas and oil sand.
In a separate matter, Pongsak said he wanted to see the PTT board urgently separate the gas pipeline business into a subsidiary, as well as a rapid expansion of the NGV (natural gas for vehicles) service-station network from the current 490 stations, in order to cater more efficiently to high demand.
PTT has shown little progress on the latter, he added.
The minister said the splitting off of the gas pipeline unit into a subsidiary would create greater accounting transparency at PTT and clearer figures for the public concerning the business’s investment.
