BANGKOK, 4 July 2013 — PTT Public Co.Ltd., has estimated that the growth in the nation’s demand for energy would be around 6-7% this year, significantly higher than the country’s GDP growth of 4-5%
The Company’s CEO, Mr Pairin Chuchotethavorn, pointed out the enormous rise in electricity consumption has led to the need to construct more power plants.
As for the average prices of this year’s fuel, Mr. Pairin gave an estimate of 90-105 US dollars a barrel. He believed that the prices would remain the same for quite some time. He analyzed that oil producers would need to maintain the commodity’s appeal in order to prevent consumers from switching to natural gas. Mr. Pairin also said another factor is the development of oil production technology in the US which has prompted higher production volume and at the same time kept prices at the same level.
The PTT CEO expressed concerns over the locally produced natural gas, saying that with the current level of consumption, the nation’s natural gas resources would be depleted within 10 years.
He disclosed that due to the increasing demand for energy, Thailand is now importing Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG). Mr. Pairin said that right now the gas has to be stored at the distribution station in Rayong which only has a storing capacity of 5 million tons a year. He said the nation is in the process of looking for a location to construct another station with gas storage capacity of 15 million tons a year.
