Thailand and Burma are going to strike another energy deal today for the supply of natural gas from Block M9 and partially from Block M11, while the partnership agreement for the Hatgyi hydropower plant project is expected to be signed next May.
"Despite the [two-week-long] closure of the border checkpoint in Mae Sot, the Thai-Burmese relationship in energy security deepens for economic development in both countries," Energy Minister Wannarat Charnnukul said yesterday.
He will leave Bangkok for Burma today to preside over the signing ceremony with his counterpart U Lun Thi.
PTT Plc will buy gas from Block M9 in the Zawtika field from the project's developers, which are its subsidiary PTT Exploration and Production (PTTEP) and Burma's national oil company Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE).
With affirmed gas reserves of 1.4 trillion cubic feet, Block M9 can produce 330 million cubic feet per day. Of the total, 240mcfpd will be exported to Thailand. According to PTT's statement to the Stock Exchange of Thailand, most will come from Block M9 and some from Block M11. A part of this is for the Ratchaburi and Wang Noi power plants and the rest for transportation.
This will help substitute 2.4 billion litres of bunker oil per year and help save Bt400 billion in fuel imports throughout the 30-year contract, with gas supplies to start late 2013.
Wannarat said supply to Thailand could be increased. PTTEP has won the exploration and production rights for blocks M3, M4, M7 and M11, and the output could be sold to Thailand at the initial price of US$6-$8 (Bt193-Bt258) per million British Thermal Units (BTUs). Gas from these blocks should help extend Thailand's gas supply by 10 years, he said.
Natural gas from the Gulf of Thailand, if pumping continues at the current rate without new supply, is estimated to last 23 years.
Energy Permanent Secretary Pornchai Rujiprapa said Thailand also plans to buy power from the 1.2 gigawatt Hatgyi and 7GW Thasang hydropower projects in Burma. The environmental impact assessment for the Thasang project is underway to address the concerns of non-governmental organisations, he said.
The partnership deal for the Hatgyi project could be signed by May 2011, he added.
The M9 development will also extend the Trans-Asean gas pipeline, designed to draw reserves from gas-rich countries, from 2,800 kilometres to 3,020km.