Page 8 - AsiaElec Week 46

AsiaElec PERFORMANCE AsiaElec
PTT’s Q3 profit shrinks 33%
THAILAND
THAILAND’S state-owned PTT saw its third-quarter net profit declined by 33% year on year to THB20.25bn ($669.7mn) on the back of weaker downstream and international trading performances.
The company said on November 12 that quar- terly earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) had fallen 29.6% year on year to THB67.7bn ($2.24bn). The com- pany attributed the slump to stock losses racked up by its downstream division on the back of a decline in crude oil prices as well as lower olefins and aromatics spreads.
The state major’s natural gas business also saw its margins squeezed during the quarter, owing to lower reference petrochemical prices. These pressures resulted in quarterly revenue slipping 11% year on year to THB538.44bn ($17.81bn).
PTT’s net income for the first nine months of the year dropped 24.6% y/y to THB24.64bn ($814.6mn), which it said was in line with a 22.6% drop in the period’s EBITDA, which amounted to THB222.02bn ($7.34bn). Reve- nue for the period shrank by 3.4% on the year to THB1.66tn ($54.89bn).
The group’s assets amounted to THB2.42tn ($80.02bn) as of September 30, up 2.8% from December 31, 2018.
The company attributed the increase to gains made via its subsidiaries’ acquisitions of Glow Energy and Murphy Oil.
Global Power Synergy Co. (GPSC) completed its acquisition of a 69.1% stake in power pro- ducer Glow in March, while PTT Exploration and Production (PTTEP) acquired Murphy Oil’s Malaysian business in July.
While PTT’s downstream arms may have struggled, its upstream assets provide some much-needed relief.
PTTEP’s nine-month net profit climbed by 39% y/y to THB37.2bn ($1.23bn), owing to higher sales volumes stemming from the increase in producing assets. Revenue expanded by 15% y/y to THB143bn (4.73bn).
“PTTEP’s strong performance reflected the successful acquisition in Malaysia in line with the strategic investment plan,” PTTEP president and CEO Phongsthorn Thavisin said. “The result is demonstrated by growing average sales volume, with the 2019 target of 345,000 boepd.”™
GAS-FIRED GENERATION
Comet seeks environmental approval for Queensland block
AUSTRALIA
AUSTRALIA junior Comet Ridge has begun work to secure environmental authority (EA) foracoal-bedmethane(CBM)blockinQueens- land, the company said on November 12.
The company was awarded the 450-square km Mahalo North block in late October, with the stipulation that any production be marketed only to domestic buyers. It expects to be awarded a formal authority to prospect (ATP) within three to four months.
Comet added that it anticipated starting drill- ing wells in the second quarter of next year fol- lowing the award of the ATP.
Commenting on the block’s prospectivity, Comet noted that the initial development fair- way identified in the Mahalo Gas Project area could be traced into Mahalo North through the same coal reservoir. It added that 25 wells had been drilled in the Mahalo Gas Project, with most of the activity concentrated in the north, where depths are similar to Mahalo North.
“Development of the Mahalo Gas Project is initially targeted around the productive shallow coals in the north, which are currently mapped
to extend well into the new Mahalo North block and were confirmed by the Luton 2 well and also thehighnumberofcoalexplorationboreholes,” the company added.
Comet owns a 40% stake in the Mahalo JV Project Area, which is a subset area of the Mahalo Gas Project. Santos and Australian Pacific LNG (APLNG) own 30% each of the play as well as 50% each of the wider project.
Comet Ridge has divided the Mahalo North’s CBM fairway into two zones. The company intends to evaluate the zone around and south of Luton 2 immediately and expects to bring this on stream around the same time as or even before the Mahalo Gas Project.
Commenting on Mahalo North’s export options, Comet said one possible route might be via the Mahalo Gas Project, which is only pre- dicted to fill around three quarters of the 80 TJ (2.08mn cubic metres) per day modular process- ing plant’s capacity on start-up.
As the company moves forward with its development plans for Mahalo North, it has embarked upon a strategic review of its assets.™
P8
w w w . N E W S B A S E . c o m Week 46 20•November•2019