Thailand: Bunker-oil imports to maintain power

Thailand will import 110 million litres of bunker oil to keep generating power until the broken pipeline from Burma’s Yetagun gas field can be repaired in 10 days.

“[Despite the switch to higher-priced fuel], consumers won’t see higher energy costs or blackouts,” deputy energy permanent secretary Norkhun Sittipong said after meeting with the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (Egat) and PTT yesterday.

The disruption in the supply of 460 million cubic feet per day from the Yetagun gas field since cracks were found on Thursday exacerbates existing shortages due to the delay in transmissions from the Arthit field.


The Yetagun pipeline shutdown forces power plants to resort to 10 million litres of bunker oil a day, while 70 million litres will be imported this month to replace the missing gas from the Arthit field.

Norkhun said Bangchak Petroleum had agreed to provide 20 million litres, while Thai Oil will step up production by 30 million litres.

The Nation (Bangkok)