Oil and gas giant PTT Plc plans to dilute its shareholding in majority-state-owned Bangchak Petroleum Plc (BCP) as part of its restructuring plan to focus more on petrochemical and overseas investments, chief financial officer Surong Bulakul said yesterday.
The company also Pplans to sell all its shares in Star Petroleum Refinery Co (SPRC) this year. PTT has 36% ownership of SPRC, which is 64% owned by US-based oil giant Chevron.
Mr Surong said PTT, which has a 22.7% share in BCP, will have to study further how many shares would be sold pending the policy of the country's new government.
PTT bought BCP shares from 2002-06 as part of the latter's move to restructure its debts and mobilise funds to upgrade its oil refinery in Bangkok.
"BCP does not need to have PTT as a major shareholder and its position in business is much stronger than in the past," Mr Surong said.
In recent years, BCP has diversified business from oil refining and retail to renewable energies including biofuels and solar farms.
As part of PTT's restructuring plan, it will spin off business units and set up a company to manage each, including power generation, coal mining, natural gas and gas pipelines.
"PTT is looking at the possibility of investing more overseas, including in petrochemical projects and the upstream petroleum business of PTT Exploration and Production Plc (PTTEP)," Mr Surong said on the sidelines of a forum on energy reforms organised by the Economic Reporters Association.
Piyasvasti Amranand, former energy minister and former chief of the National Energy Policy Office, told the forum that the new government should end all subsidy schemes such as those for cooking gas and compressed natural gas.
Instead, the new government should focus more on energy saving and energy efficiency.
"The new government should not further distort the energy price mechanism and allow free competition in the market," he said.
In refinery business, for instance, the government should come up with policies that prevent local oil refineries being controlled and monopolised by PTT, said Mr Piyasvasti.
In a related move, energy planners yesterday conducted a drill to prepare for disruption of natural gas supply from the Thailand-Malaysia Joint Development Area (JDA) from June 13 to July 28.
The scheduled maintenance shutdown of JDA's A18 block will affect 420 million cubic feet per day or 10% of Thailand's gas demand. The disruption will affect power plants in the South with combined capacity of 810 megawatts.
Relying on gas for as much as 70% of power generation, Thailand has faced gas disruption frequently since 2010. Last year, gas supplies from Myanmar were disrupted in April and from the Gulf of Thailand in December, followed by the disruption of the Bongkot field last month.
Permanent secretary for energy Suthep Luimsirijareon said agencies are already to tackle gas disruption to avoid power blackouts or brownouts.
PTT, for instance, has prepared standby oil and gas supplies to fuel power plants in the South, while the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (Egat) has gathered 39 million litres of bunker oil and 9 million litres of diesel to replace gas during the period.
The Energy Regulatory Commission, meanwhile, has asked business operators in the South to reduce and adjust working shifts with an aim to cut 250-300 MW of power consumption during peak hours.
In the worst case that demand is much higher than supply, the Provincial Electricity Authority and the Metropolitan Electricity Authority might have to cut off power supply for an hour a day in some areas while avoiding places such as airports, military camps and hospitals.
Authorities have ruled out the possibility of a nationwide shutdown of power plants and transmission lines.
Egat governor Soonchai Kamnoonsate said blackouts and brownouts might not happen as authorities have prepared for the disruption.
