Global and regional upstream activities, including in Southeast Asia, are rising, as more exploration and development projects are evaluated and approved. Yet, the drilling rig market in the region is not as exciting as it should be, especially with global oil prices ranging between $100 and $120 per barrel in recent months.
Thailand’s state-backed upstream player PTT Exploration & Production (PTTEP) is facing significant gas supply challenges that pose further downside risks to the Southeast Asian nation’s gas power sector, warned Fitch Solutions.
Thailand’s dependence on imported liquefied natural gas (LNG) continues to expand despite soaring global prices. Significantly, the increasing demand for LNG is being exacerbated by production declines across ageing domestic fields, particularly Erawan.
Malaysia’s Petronas and Thailand’s PTT Exploration & Production (PTTEP) have announced they will exit the Yetagun gas project offshore Myanmar as they rationalise their upstream portfolios. Neither company denounced the military-led coup in their exit statements.
Thailand’s PTT Exploration & Production (PTTEP) is now the official operator of the G1/61 project, which covers the Erawan, Platong, Satun and Funan fields, as well as the G2/61 project, covering the Bongkot field. PTTEP (BKK:PTTEP) said it is ready to boost natural gas production to increase energy security despite being denied prior access to Erawan due to an unresolved dispute with the former operator.
Japanese companies Inpex and JGC are teaming up with Thai upstream player PTT Exploration & Production (PTTEP) to explore potential carbon capture and storage (CCS) developments in Thailand. The move follows PTTEP’s recent announcement that it has set a 2050 carbon neutral target.
A multi-national partnership aims to establish what could be the first green e-methanol plant in Southeast Asia. The partnership, which includes Thailand’s PTT Exploration & Production (PTTEP), aims to establish Asia’s first green e-methanol plant which converts captured biogenic carbon dioxide (CO2) into green e-methanol, a low carbon fuel.
The Indonesian government is preparing to launch domestic legal action against Thailand’s PTT Exploration & Production (PTTEP) (BKK:PTTEP) relating to economic and environmental damages suffered by local people around Kupang following the 2009 Montara oil spill.
Malaysia's Petronas has signed production sharing contracts (PSCs) for five offshore exploration blocks, namely SB412, 2W, and X located off the coast of Sabah, and SK439/SK440 situated off the coast of Sarawak. Significantly, Shell has signed up for ultra-deepwater exploration acreage.
TotalEnergies, which on 21 January announced a rapid withdrawal from Myanmar because the situation in the country no longer allowed the French company to make a “sufficiently positive contribution”, said its exit will be “responsible.”
Thailand’s PTT Exploration & Production (PTTEP) has confirmed it will take over operatorship of the Yadana gas field offshore Myanmar in July as TotalEnergies (LSE:TTE) walks away in a transaction with no commercial value.
Chevron is seeking to sell its share of the Yadana gas field to Thailand’s PTT Exploration & Production (BKK:PTTEP) as TotalEnergies gives its operated interest away for free in what appears to be a hasty retreat from Myanmar.
PTT, Thailand’s state-controlled energy company, is bidding to take control of Myanmar’s Yadana gas field after TotalEnergies (LSE:TTE) and Chevron (NYSE:CVX) announced they will exit the country to protest against the junta’s continued violence against civilians since the military coup.
Eni has discovered gas at its first exploration well drilled offshore Abu Dhabi, in the offshore Block 2.
Thailand’s PTT Exploration & Production (PTTEP) (BKK:PTTEP) looks set to takeover operatorship at the Yadana gas project offshore Myanmar after TotalEnergies announced its decision to withdraw from the troubled country last week.
PTT Exploration & Production (PTTEP) (BKK:PTTEP) will be able to access the Chevron-operated Erawan gas field offshore Thailand ahead of a transition in 2022 after the pair signed three agreements designed to smooth the handover process following a bitter dispute.
Global oil and gas discoveries are on track to hit their lowest full-year level in 75 years if the final weeks of 2021 fail to yield any significant finds, according to analysis from Rystad Energy.
PTT Exploration & Production (BKK:PTTEP) will expand its investment in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) by acquiring a 25% stake in Area C onshore block from Italy’s Eni. The state-backed Thai upstream player said the investment fits with its strategic focus on prolific petroleum areas in the Middle East.
Thailand’s PTT Exploration & Production (PTTEP) has raised its capital spending plan for upstream oil and gas to $16.5 billion over the next five years. PTTEP (BKK:PTTEP) will also spend an additional $4.4 billion developing its new energy business, which includes hydrogen, wind and solar, through to 2026.
Thailand’s PTT Exploration & Production (PTTEP) (BKK:PTTEP) has struck a second gas discovery in Baram province in Block SK417 in shallow waters about 180 kms off the coast of the Malaysian state of Sarawak.
Harbour Energy (LON:HBR) and its Russian partner Zarubezhneft have successfully completed their appraisal drilling campaign at the Tuna Block in the Natuna Sea offshore Indonesia with positive results at both wells.
China has again been contesting Malaysian oil and gas activity in the South China Sea. This time Beijing has been targeting Thai state-backed upstream player PTT Exploration & Production’s (BKK:PTTEP) upstream drilling operations offshore Sabah.
Malaysia’s state-owned energy company Petronas is planning to build a third multi-billion dollar floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) unit to help solve challenges commercialising gas offshore Sabah in Malaysia as part of an effort to appease ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) and Shell (AMS:RDSA) following losses related to an upstream development.
State-backed Thai player PTT Exploration & Production’s (PTTEP’s) new chief executive, Montri Rawanchaikul, intends to strengthen the firm’s core upstream business in Southeast Asia, while preparing for new energy opportunities.
Jakarta is preparing to bolster its maritime security defences in the Natuna Sea, which is rich in fisheries and natural gas, after increasing incursions by Chinese vessels within Indonesia’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ). The news should provide some comfort to upstream oil and gas investors operating in the Natuna Sea.