Part of the issue will be offered to the general public, but the ratio and coupon rate have not been finalised.

"We are planning all the details with four financial advisers," Maroot said. The four advisers are Bangkok Bank, Kasikornbank, Siam Commercial Bank and Barclays Bank.

The funds raised will be used for working capital and for new projects in Vietnam, Burma and Algeria, Maroot said.

He said PTTEP and its subsidiaries had a profit in the first quarter of Bt6.771 billion, down 14 per cent from the same period last year. Total revenue was Bt21.27 billion for the first three months, down 6 per cent on year.

This was due partly to the baht's appreciation. Maroot said another factor was the fall in sales volume caused by the delay of the Oman 44 project, a fall in gas sales from Yetagun, a drop in crude sales from the B8/32&9A project and a fall in condensate production at the Bongkot project.

The drop in revenue and profit was partly offset by higher sales of natural gas from Yadana and Phu Hom.

PTTEP targets sales volume of 188,000 barrels of oil equivalent (BOE) per day this year, up from 169,000 BOE per day last year. Maroot said its sales volume would rise to 241,000 BOE per day next year thanks to new production capacity from its Arthit project.

The firm will hedge crude sales due to the fluctuating global oil price.

Maroot said it was very difficult to forecast the price of oil because demand was nearly equivalent to supply in the global market.

"The oil price is very sensitive. It can rise or fall overnight. We will hedge to protect our minimum profit, not for speculation," he added.

He said the first shipment of crude from Oman, 100,000 barrels, would be sent to Thailand on May 23. Average production of natural gas in Oman is around 30 million cubic feet per day and for crude it is 3,000 barrels per day.

In this quarter, PTTEP will sell another 100,000 barrels of crude from Nangnuan as it will move to a new well in the project at the end of this month.

"We were just granted the environmental-impact assessment for the new well two weeks ago. We are waiting for approval from the National Petroleum Board on May 28, and then we will start our operation immediately," he said. Initially it will produce about 5,000 barrels per day before rising to the full capacity of 9,000.

Chalida Ekvitthayavechnukul

The Nation