PTTEP closes up on M9 gas deal

Thailand will sign an agreement tomorrow to buy natural gas from the Zawtika field at the offshore Block M9 in the Gulf of Martaban in Burma from late 2013, Energy Minister Wannarat Charnnukul said.

State-controlled PTT Pcl, as a buyer, will sign the gas deal with sellers, which include state-owned Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise and PTTEP International, a unit of PTT Exploration and Production (PTTEP), he told a news conference.

PTTEP’s subsidiary owns 100% of Block M9, located about 300 km (185 miles) south of Rangoon.

PTTEP is expected to supply an initial 300 million cubic feet per day from M9, of which 240 mmcfd would be delivered to Thailand and the rest to Burma. It is expected to have gas reserves of 1.4 trillion cubic feet per day.

Burma natural gas accounts for about 30% of Thailand‘s consumption, mostly in power generation.

About 965 mmcfd of gas from the nearby Yetagun and Yadana fields is exported to Thailand.

The output from the Zawtika field will raise Thailand‘s natural gas import from Myanmar to 1.2 billion cubic feet per day, sufficient to meet rising power demand in Thailand, Wannarat said.

PTTEP yesterday posted a better-than-expected first-half net profit growth of 72% to 21 billion baht on higher commodity prices and increase in output.

From http://www.upstreamonline.com