Page 6 - AsianOil Week 43 2020

AsianOil SOUTHEAST ASIA AsianOil

Fatal PTT pipeline explosion Image: The Thaiger

stokes fears over further blasts

PIPELINES & THAILAND’S state-owned PTT is under pres- Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha
TRANSPORT sure to provide a concrete explanation for last ordered an investigation into the explosion,
week’s natural gas pipeline explosion in Samut declaring that authorities would “get to the
Prakan Province, which lies just south-east of bottom of the incident”. His words were meant
central Bangkok. to reassure local residents, who have begun
The pipeline, which supplies gas to factories in expressing concern that a similar incident at
the Bang Bo district, exploded on October 22, kill- other pipelines could occur.
ing three and injuring at least 50 others. The blast However, the fact that the government and
and subsequent fire damaged more than 30 houses, PTT have still not provided a definitive explana-
around 100 vehicles and the local police station. tion for what caused the explosion has begun to
The Thai Energy Ministry’s deputy direc- frustrate some observers.
tor-general, Thawal Thanakitcharoenphat, said The head of the Kanchanaburi Conservation
at the time that an excavator working without a Group, Pinan Chotirosserani, called on the com-
permit might have caused the explosion. PTT, pany to speed up its investigation and launch a
meanwhile, said: “It is initially believed that review of its safety measures. Chotirosserani told
the explosion was caused by the leakage and the Bangkok Post on October 27 that residents
diffusion of NGV liquefied natural gas in the living near the Thailand-Myanmar gas pipeline
pipeline.” were increasingly worried about a similar inci-
The company has also pointed to other fac- dent happening along that line.
tors – such as afternoon heat and soil subsidence She said the Samut Prakan explosion should
– as possible causes. have prompted an immediate safety review of
ThaiPBS quoted an unnamed company exec- the Thailand-Myanmar line, which runs through
utive as saying on October 23 that the pipeline Kanchanaburi Province’s Thong Pha Phum, Sai
had been laid to a minimum depth of 4.5 metres, Yok and Dan Makhamtei districts. The activist
meeting international safety standards, and also urged the government to relocate commu-
that it had repeatedly passed yearly and weekly nities living along the route until a full safety
inspections. review had been completed.™

EAST ASIA

CNOOC Ltd to shift production focus to gas

PROJECTS & CHINA’S state-run CNOOC Ltd has pledged to Corp. (CNOOC), said on October 22 that it
COMPANIES boost natural gas’ share of its overall production wanted gas to account for half of its total pro-
by 2035 after announcing weaker third-quarter duction by the middle of the next decade, up
results on the back of falling crude oil prices. from 21% at present.
The company, which is the listed arm of Company CFO Xie Weizhi told report-
state-owned China National Offshore Oil ers that CNOOC Ltd would speed up gas

P6 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 43 29•October•2020