Petrobras keen to invest in Kingdom

Brazil's Petrobras has expressed interest in investing in Thailand, particularly in the South's Land Bridge project, Energy Minister Poonpirom Liptapanlop said yesterday.

"The project will reduce the time to ship oil and other cargo to Asia by a week," she said of a project that will allow vessels to bypass the Straits of Malacca and Singapore.

"Petrobras' delegation will be in Thailand for

further discussion with the Energy Ministry and PTT."

Thailand is now conducting a feasibility study on the Land Bridge, with funding from Dubai World.

Poonpirom has just returned from Brazil after holding a discussion with Petrobras.

The company is present in 27 countries and last year was ranked the world's seventh-largest oil company according to Petroleum Intelligence Weekly, which tracks the 50 biggest and most important oil companies.

In the first quarter, it posted a net profit of 6.92 billion reais (Bt142 billion).

Meanwhile, Poonpirom said the Energy Ministry would study the maximum ethanol mixture suitable for Thai vehicles, before plotting a long-term development plan to reduce energy bills.

Poonpirom said the study would cover petrol with different levels of ethanol, from 10, 20, 85 or 100 per cent, to find out the pros and cons of each mixing level.

She said E100, which is pure ethanol, could benefit the country, as no petrol was needed.

However, to offer E100 requires cooperation from related agencies and incentives for the manufacturing of flexible-fuel vehicles that can run on E100.

She said Brazil, which uses E100, took more than 30 years to achieve the goal and that this required continuation in government policies.

"As an agricultural country, we can push for 100-per-cent ethanol. We may not need to take as long as 30 years as Brazil, as we can learn from its experiences," she said.

On the call by lorry operators for cheaper diesel, she said the ministry had not yet received the request.

She said affected operators could  approach the ministry directly for an allocation from 122 million litres of cheap diesel.

So far, 30 million litres have been allocated to the Bangkok Mass Transit Authority and private bus operators in Bangkok.