Anantaporn sets sights on energy security
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NEWLY appointed Energy Minister General Anantaporn Kanjanarat has said he places an emphasis on shoring up the nation's energy security and will make a decision on three controversial energy issues within three months.
At a press conference on his first day at the Ministry of Energy yesterday, Anantaporn said his first task was to gather information to determine if the country’s energy security is under as much threat as some people have claimed.
“The first thing is to get information on how urgent the energy matters are, whether they are the old concessions, the 21st concession round, or the Krabi power plant. If they are very urgent, they must be go first,” he said.
Energy officials and many other experts have urged the government to urgently respond to the expiration of the two offshore petroleum concessions to ensure the continuity of Thailand’s natural gas supply, which accounts for half of the country’s gas needs.
The government has also been urged to commence the long-delayed 21st round of petroleum concessions.
It is forecast the existing gas reserves will last only seven or eight years.
Another issue concerns the proposed coal-fired power plant in Krabi, which is subjected to strong opposition from non-government organisations over environmental concerns and it being earmarked for a major tourist province.
Impact on consumers
“The ministry’s mission is to procure energy for sustainability and to ensure the country and its citizens will have sufficient energy for usage,” the minister said.
Anantaporn said the Energy Policy Administrative Committee would consider floating the price of natural gas for vehicles to be in line with true costs, with the current gap just Bt1 per kilogram.
But he said the decision on whether to lift liquefied petroleum gas prices for the transport sector must take into account the impact on consumers along with the true-cost principle.
He said he would emphasis enhancing ministry’s image, he added.
“We would like the ministry to change its image to gain the trust of the public, because energy is important to industries and national development,” he said.
“Actually, people in the local areas and the general public are not opposing [the energy projects] but there might be a certain group who have opposed,” he said.
Anantaporn is a former chairman of the Committee to Track and Monitor the Spending of Government Budgets, which is investigating the third round of the independent power-producer bidding process that selected Gulf JP as the sole winner.
He declined to comment on how he would rule on the matter because the investigation was ongoing.
