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PTT delays payment for natural gas



BUSINESS DAY (THAILAND)

February 23, 2001

PTT delays payment for natural gas it never used

The PETROLEUM Authority of Thailand yesterday said it will
delay paying US$400 million for natural gas it didn't need but is
under contract to purchase, citing a cash flow problem.

PTT will pay developers of the Yadana and Yetagun fields in
Myanmar by the end of March instead of March 1, as agreed
to originally in the sales contract, PTT chairman Viset Choopiban
said. PTT was unable to sell bonds in time necessary to raise
the money to pay, he added.

The state agency plans to sell 5 billion baht of government-
guaranteed bonds in the domestic market next week, and to
sell a further 9 billion baht of bonds in two lots during the next
two weeks.

PTT Exploration & Production of Thailand, the Myanmar
government, units of Total Fina Elf SA, Unocal and Petronas
Gas developed the fields.

PTT Exploration owns a 25.5 percent stake in the Yadana
field, and 14 percent stake in the Yetagun field - the
company's two largest gas projects.

Since mid-1998, PTT has been under contract to purchase
65 million cubic feet per day of natural gas from the Yadana
and Yentagun fields to feed the power plants operated by the
Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand.