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AsiaElec GAS-FIRED GENERATION AsiaElec
ONGC revises down KGD5 production
INDIA
NDIA’S state-run Oil and Natural Gas Corp. (ONGC) has revised down its production guid- ance for the ultra-deepwater KG-DWN-98/2 (KG-D5) block by up to 20%.
The company has said it expects to produce 32-34bn cubic metres of gas from the block, which lies in the Krishna Godavari (KG) Basin, by financial year 2023-2024. This is down from its previous projection of 38-40 bcm.
While the company has not given a reason for the revised forecast, local business daily Live- Mint quoted an unnamed company official as saying the new target was the result of greater reservoir complexity than expected, as well as the overall size of the development.
ONGC intends to invest $5bn in developing KG-D5, which is classed as a high-temperature, high-pressure (HTHP) field. As such, the com- pany will be able to market the field’s production freely without state-mandated price constraints. The government introduced the incentive as part of a wave of upstream reforms designed to attract
investment in deepwater projects.
ONGC expects to begin production from the
block in December and has begun seeking buy- ers for the gas, auctioning 755,000 cubic metres per day of gas for three years. The company has set a reserve price of $5.61 per mmBtu ($155.17 per 1,000 cubic metres) with the minimum bid quantity set at 50,000 cubic metres per day.
India’s developers are betting big on the coun- try’s deepwater plays, given that onshore fields have matured and are mostly in decline, with limited upstream prospects.
In the neighbouring KG-DWN-98/3 (KGD6) block, Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) and BP are gearing up to begin production from the R-clus- ter in April 2020.
It is a significant turnaround for the block, which had been in decline for years. The com- pany had previously refused to invest in explora- tion and development owing to low state-capped prices that made the challenging field economi- cally unviable.™
Mitsui, Gulf Energy to invest in 2.5GW gas-fired plant in Thailand
THAILAND
JAPANESE trading house Mitsui & Co is to invest in a $1.6bn, 2.5-GW gas-fired combined cycle power plant in Thailand.
The new project, due to start operation from March 2023, will be 30% owned by Mitsui and 70% by Thai power company Gulf Energy Devel- opment, Reuters reported.
It is to be built at the Rojana Rayong 2 Indus- trial Park in Thailand’s Rayong Province, about 150km south-east of Bangkok.
The electricity from the new project will be sold to state-owned Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT) for 25 years under a long-term contract, Mitsui said.
The two companies are already building another 2.5-GW gas-fired TPP in Chonburi Province, which is due to start supplying elec- tricity from March 2021.
“We are pleased to support Thailand in answering its growing needs for electricity, together with Gulf Energy. Along with our partners JBIC and other Japanese companies, we aim to continue contributing to the develop- ment of the country’s infrastructure,” said Yoshio Kometani, executive managing officer of Mitsui & Co. The feedstock will mainly come from imported LNG, a Mitsui spokesman said.
The decision comes after signing a project
financing agreement with banks such as the Japan Bank of International Cooperation (JBIC), which will provide a project financing of about $208 million.
The loan is co-financed by the Asian Devel- opment Bank (ADB), Export-Import Bank of Thailand (EXIM Thailand) and private banks, covering about $1.36bn, Mitsui said.
Investing in gas is part of the Thai govern- ment’s policy of moving away from coal as a fuel for power generation.
Combined-cycle gas turbine technology means that 1mn fewer tonnes per year of CO2 will be emitted compared to current electric- ity grid emissions. The plant will be integral to sustaining Thailand’s energy security given that more than 8,500MW of generating capacity — equivalent to about 20% of current national energy capacity — of ageing power plants will be retired between 2020 and 2025.
“Sustainability is a key growth area for Mitsui and this latest major long-term investment sup- ports Thailand’s transition to harnessing cleaner energy sources,” said Reiji Fujita, president of Mitsui & Co. (Thailand) Ltd.
Mitsui also partners with Gulf on a natural gas distribution network to industrial estates in Thailand.™
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w w w . N E W S B A S E . c o m Week 47 27 •November•2019