The new president and CEO of PTT Plc, Kongkrapan Intarajang, says he plans to review the business expansion strategy of the national oil and gas conglomerate to ensure it can take advantage of rapid changes in the global market.
The review would cover not only core businesses from upstream to oil retail, refining, petrochemicals and power generation, but also non-hydrocarbon ventures, some of which PTT entered around the time the Covid-19 pandemic began.
The latter include the battery-run vehicle supply chain, health and medicine, life sciences, logistics and digital and artificial intelligence.
Mr Kongkrapan, who previously served as chief executive of PTT Global Chemical, said the global market for many sectors has changed in many dimensions. Some that were known as “blue ocean” businesses have become “red ocean” sectors with intense competition over the last few years.
The review of each business will look at market feasibility and new impacts from global trends, particularly trade conflict between China and the US, which has forced the latter to revise its national strategic plan to ensure self-sufficiency in high-tech sectors.
The petrochemical sector, Mr Kongkrapan noted, was already on a down cycle during the post-Covid period but the outlook has worsened because of additional oversupply from China.
All of PTT’s core and non-core businesses will remain committed to net zero emissions by 2050, well ahead of the national timeline calling for net zero to be reached in 2065.
Carbon capture storage systems and hydrogen fuel could become part of the company’s arsenal as it strives to reduce emissions, said Mr Kongkrapan, who succeeded Auttapol Rerkpiboon as the leader of PTT last month.
Core businesses will seek to enhance competitiveness in terms of production costs and to add more value. Any new investments should focus on substantial assets and good investment returns.
In the the non-hydrocarbon sector, Mr Kongkrapan said, the focus will be on the business direction: whether to pursue rapid growth, find strategic partners, or exit.
For instance, EV-related activities can include a battery making facility, EV assembly factory, sales agents and charger facilities, some of which are poised for rapid growth. PTT will study which parts of the supply chain have the best potential, from battery raw material resources to EV recycling, and how it should respond.
