PTT at heart of govt's land-bridge
The Energy Ministry is backing PTT as the main vehicle for developing new energy sources overseas and seeking potential partners to invest in a proposed land bridge linking the Andaman Sea with the Gulf of Thailand, a project aimed at making Thailand a re
Energy Minister Pichai Naripthaphan made the remark during a visit to PTT's offices yesterday.
The ministry is working out a national energy plan, to be submitted to Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra. The plan positions PTT as the key body for investing in overseas energy businesses.
PTT plans to spend US$100 billion (about Bt3 trillion) between now and 2020, of which more than 50 per cent will be invested overseas. Of the overseas investment, half will be made through PTT Exploration and Production with a focus on Asean countries (particularly Burma), Australia and North America.
PTT is focusing on its coal, petrochemicals and electricity businesses to boost revenue. It will play a key role in developing the land bridge, and seeks partners, including Chinese firms, to invest in the project, Pichai said.
The government plans to revise energy-source prices to reflect actual costs and reduce price subsidies, he said.
Pichai said he had approached PTT chief executive officer Prasert Bunsumpun, whose term ends today, to work with the government, but declined to provide details.
The Energy Ministry has assigned PTT and the Energy Policy and Planning Office (Eppo) to conduct a feasibility study on the land bridge, which is aimed at reducing the cost of transporting energy resources to refineries, and would serve as a strategic oil reserve for Thailand and other Asian countries.
Eppo director Suthep Iamsiricharoen said recently that the office and PTT would discuss the matter soon. He added that the Office of Transport and Traffic Policy and Planning had studied the project, but with a focus on investment in infrastructure at the Pak Bara seaport and the construction of roads and railway links.
Imported oil is currently shipped by tankers through the busy Malacca Strait to Singapore, then brought to local refineries by smaller vessels. The joint study aims to determine whether transport costs can be lowered by having tankers deliver oil to Pak Bara in the Andaman Sea, then delivering the oil via pipelines to storage tanks on the Gulf of Thailand.
It will also examine the possibility of this storage facility serving as a strategic reserve point for mainland China, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan.
If the study shows that the project is commercially feasible, environmentally friendly and acceptable to nearby communities, the government will invite the above countries and others to invest in the project.
PTT conducted its own study of the project during the government of former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, which deemed it not commercially viable. Suthep said the new study would also evaluate oil demand in mainland China, Taiwan and South Korea to gauge the size of the planned pipelines and oil depots along the land-bridge route.
