Page 8 - AsianOil Week 05
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and petroleum product exports, as well as asso- ciated penalties.
Petronas sought a judicial review of the assessment, which the High Court decided to grant on December 10. The Court of Appeal dismissed the Sarawak government’s petition against the High Court’s decision on January 7.
e High Court in Kuching began hearing the state’s suit against Petronas for non-pay- ment of SST and penalties on January 14. The day before the trial started Sarawak Chief Minister Patinggi Abang Johari Openg pledged to regain control of Sarawak’s oil and gas assets from Petronas. He said on January 13 that while “some parties” would resist the state’s e orts, it would pursue them “because we believe in the supremacy of our law, par- ticularly our federal and state constitutions”.
He added: “So let the legal experts decide, including the court, on our regulatory power based on the federal constitution and state constitutions.”
Sarawak Deputy Law Minister Sharifah Hasidah Sayeed Aman Ghazali said on Febru- ary 1 that regaining control of the state’s oil and gas resources was an essential step to achieving a high-income economy.
At an event promoting the state govern- ment’s pursuit of oil and gas control, Ghazali cited an independent petroleum report as showing that Sarawak contributed 60-65% of the country’s gas production and 30% of its oil production during 2005-2015. She cited the report as saying the state had produced 3.35mn tonnes (24.55mn barrels) of crude oil worth MYR9.4bn ($2.29bn).
Thailand looking at LNG spot market
POLICY
THAILAND’S Ministry of Energy has ordered state-owned oil and gas company PTT to assess the feasibility of buying LNG on the spot market in order to take advantage of lower prices.
Thai Minister of Energy Sontirat Son- tijirawong noted that spot LNG prices had declined to an average of US$4-5 per million British thermal units ($110.64-138.30 per 1,000 cubic metres), making them potentially more attractive than domestic production or imports from Myanmar.
“If PTT can import LNG at these lower prices, the ministry will reduce o shore gas production temporarily,” Sontijirawong was reported by the Bangkok Post as saying. “ is plan would extend the life cycle of gas resources in the Gulf of ailand.”
PTT already imports roughly 5mn tonnes per year (tpy) of LNG, but all these shipments are handled under long-term contracts. Son- tijirawong’s comments come as a growing number of LNG buyers are turning to the spot market, where they can currently obtain lower
pricing. Meanwhile, PTT is building its sec- ond LNG receiving terminal with a capacity of 7.5mn tonnes, scheduled for start-up in 2022. A ramp-up in ai LNG imports is thus expected, so it would not be surprising, given current trends, if the country opts to buy on the spot market. Sontirat said the government would carefully consider PTT’s findings, looking at them within the context of integration with the country’s gas supply.
“It will bring the possibility of a regional LNG trading hub, which the ministry plans to pro- mote in the third quarter of 2020,” he said.
PTT’s ndings stand to a ect existing con- tracts that it has with the Electricity Generating Authority of ailand (EGAT), which is the larg- est gas purchaser in terms of global daily con- tracted volumes. EGAT announced in October 2019 that it intended to import its rst cargoes through the spot market in November. e util- ity is also developing Thailand’s first floating storage and regasi cation unit (FSRU) as it seeks to step up LNG purchases.
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w w w. N E W S B A S E . c o m Week 05 05•February•2020
