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Opponents bare cheap gas options



Politics 

      Opponents bare cheap
      gas options

      THAILAND doesn't need to buy natural gas
      from Burma's Yadana field because plenty
      of other clean and cheap sources of energy
      are available, pipeline opponents said
      Monday. 

      The Petroleum Authority of Thailand (PTT),
      meanwhile, began talks with the Electricity
      Generating Authority of Thailand (Egat)
      following the latter's admission that the
      power plant being built to burn the Yadana
      gas will not be completed on time. 

      ''We're going to talk with Egat and see how
      long the delay is,'' said Anon
      Sirisaengtaksin, the PTT's deputy president
      in charge of natural gas transmission and
      marketing. ''If the delay is just a few days,
      then it should not be a problem. If it's a few
      months, then there could be problems.'' 

      Egat, whose budget is under strict
      supervision by the IMF, is facing financial
      liquidity problems and may not be able to
      accept the loans needed to finish the
      mammoth power plant until after the fiscal
      year ends on Sept 30, according to Pipob
      Udomittipong of the Kalayanamitra Council.

      The pipeline, meanwhile, is due to start
      delivering gas by July 1, and the PTT
      claims it will have to pay huge fines if it is
      not ready to accept delivery by that date. 

      Speaking before a national committee set
      up to review the controversial pipeline
      project, Pipob also raised questions about
      the price of the gas. 

      Back in 1994 when the Yadana gas sales
      agreement was signed, PM's Office
      Minister Sawit Bhotiwihok was quoted as
      saying the price was US$2.52 per million
      British thermal units (mbtu), said Pipob. He
      added that due to inflation, the cost had
      now risen to US$3/mbtu, as acknowledged
      by Piti Yimprasert, the PTT official who
      oversees natural gas development. 

      But Pipob noted that the original price was
      still more expensive than the $2.30/mbtu
      rate later negotiated for gas from the
      Thai-Malaysia Joint Development Area
      (JDA). 

      The discrepancy is all the stranger, added
      Witoon Permpongsacharoen of the
      environmental group Terra, because
      Thailand was the only possible customer for
      the gas from the Yadana field, since no
      other surrounding countries needed it and it
      was not economically feasible to liquefy it
      and ship it to a distant market. 

      ''Back [in the early 1990s] when Thailand
      was trying to decide whether to purchase
      gas from Malaysia or Burma, then-minister
      Korn Dabbaransi said it was better to buy
      from Burma because we had more power
      over them in negotiating the price and the
      date of purchase,'' said Witoon. ''Malaysia
      offered to sell the JDA gas at the price of
      $2.50, but Thailand wanted it to be reduced
      to $2.30, so why didn't we make the same
      demand from Burma?'' 

      However, committee chairman Anand
      Panyarachun said that at the time he
      served as prime minister in 1991-92,
      purchasing gas from the JDA was a
      questionable proposition because
      Malaysia, having plenty of gas reserves of
      its own, was in no hurry to sell it to Thailand.

      ''Thailand needed a definite supply of gas
      and, during the Anand I administration, it
      was not possible to say we could definitely
      use the JDA gas,'' Anand explained. 

      The PTT's Anon said that the JDA gas cost
      $2.30/mbtu back in 1995-96, but since then
      it had risen with the price of inflation. He
      also claimed that the $3/mbtu Yadana price
      referred to gas that had already been
      transported from the Andaman Sea to the
      Thai border. 

      But Pipob quoted Piti as saying the
      $3/mbtu rate did not include the cost of
      transporting it via pipeline to the Thai
      border. 

      ''We are not confident that the Yadana gas
      is being purchased at the cheapest price
      possible,'' he said. ''We want the PTT to
      provide clearer information on this point.'' 

      Pipob also quoted Egat statistics to show
      that demand-side management (DSM)
      could reduce energy demand by over 1,700
      megawatts over the next five years and is
      much cheaper than increasing power
      supply through the purchase of natural gas.
      The Ratchaburi power plant will eventually
      use both coal and gas to produce 4,600
      megawatts. 

      Even if DSM is not factored in, Pipob said,
      there are plenty of gas reserves in the Gulf
      of Thailand and the JDA to meet Thailand's
      future energy demand, projections of which
      have been reduced due to the current
      economic malaise. 

      BY JAMES FAHN 

      The Nation