Thailand's Energy Authorities Are Scrambling For Ideas To Avert Power Woes In April

[webfact]

Rush to avert power woes in April

Business Reporters

The Nation

PTT ready to use LNG reserves during Myanmar shutdown

newsjsBANGKOK: -- Thailand's energy authorities are scrambling for ideas to prevent a possible power shortage in April - the hottest month every year - as Myanmar is shutting down two gas fields that have supplied one-fourth of the Kingdom's natural gas demand.

Energy Minister Pongsak Ruktapongpisal said he would call a meeting with his ministry's officials next week to seek measures to deal with the situation. Initially the ministry will launch a campaign to encourage people to reduce electricity use during that period, he added.

As the first measure to cope with this situation, PTT is ready to use 5 million tonnes of liquefied natural gas reserves, or 700 million cubic feet per day (mcfpd), to back up the country's electricity-generating system as Myanmar suspends gas production at Yetakun and Yanada from April 4-12 to repair its drilling rigs.

PTT chief executive officer Pailin Chuchottaworn said that Myanmar had informed the company about its planned suspension of gas supply to Thailand during the period, after the destabilisation of the rigs in the Andaman Sea.

"Normally, Myanmar shuts down the gas fields for annual maintenance during the Songkran Festival. However, this time the period of closure could be longer. PTT will try its best to ensure sufficient supply of natural gas during that period," he said.

Pailin said the temporary stoppage would see a decline of gas supply from the two fields amounting to 1.1 billion cubic feet per day. While PTT will use supplies of 700 mcfpd, it will talk with the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand about sourcing other kinds of fuel to offset the remaining shortfall of 400 mcfpd.

In March and April last year, Thailand's power consumption hit new peaks six times. On April 25, consumption peaked at a record 25,682 megawatts, according to Egat, as the temperature soared to 38.4 degrees Celsius.

Pailin noted that NGV-fuelled car owners would suffer from this incident, as some small cars in the West cannot fill up their tanks with gas from the Gulf of Thailand. Gas from the gulf contains higher colorific value than Myanmar's gas, and western gas stations do not have the tools to adjust to the heat.

Pongsak said the rig in Yanada field experienced destabilisation and needed to be fixed at its base on the seabed before the problem got worse. Therefore, Myanmar had decided that it would shut down the gas-supply system in both Yetagun and Yadana for repairs.

In a separate matter, Pongsak said that the Energy Ministry would try to cap the retail price of diesel fuel at Bt30 per litre as long as it could cope with the rising global oil price. Dubai crude oil is now exceeding US$110 (Bt3,300) per barrel.

-- The Nation 2013-02-16

[chainarong]

What happened to the nuclear power hub, maybe we could slip one of these into action before April, err just a thought

[Locationthailand]

Interesting, in that the world is suffering from massive oversupply of natural gas to the point it is presently not worth it financially to harvest yet this little glitch leaves Thailand down 25% on supply? No alternatives? Very strange.

[Payboy]

What happened to the nuclear power hub, maybe we could slip one of these into action before April, err just a thought

That got postponed while the scientists worked on a paint that doesn't peel for car license plates.

[belg]

as bangkok is a big sesspool, why not try winning natural gas from all the bullshit the politicians are spreading

[geriatrickid]

Interesting, in that the world is suffering from massive oversupply of natural gas to the point it is presently not worth it financially to harvest yet this little glitch leaves Thailand down 25% on supply? No alternatives? Very strange.

The oversupply of natural gas is attributable to the increase in production in North America. It does not make economic sense to ship short term LNG supply from North America to Thailand. The most likely suppliers of Indonesia and Malaysia already have existing contracts in place to supply energy hungry China, Japan and South Korea. Thailand will have to seek its gas on the open market which typically charges a higher price than required under supply agreements. I would expect that Thailand will consider a deal for Iranian surplus most likely through Singapore or Indian brokers who have no problem breaking international sanctions.

[Bluespunk]

Interesting, in that the world is suffering from massive oversupply of natural gas to the point it is presently not worth it financially to harvest yet this little glitch leaves Thailand down 25% on supply? No alternatives? Very strange.

Thailand doesn't do "alternatives". Monopolies don't like alternatives, it cuts down on profits.

[bkk75]

It's also a habit issue. Sorry but Thais are not raised nor educated to care for environment.

Unless motivated by money savings they will not care so supermarkets need to start charging for bags. They do this in hk and Europe.

[Bluespunk]

Thailand doesn't do "alternatives". Monopolies don't like alternatives, it cuts down on profits.

I thought you were referring to Big Oil....and to a dozen major oil/gas producing countries.

I am sure they have many 'alternative' technologies buried deep in their cupboards...very deep

Nah just referring to blind greed and stupidity, though now I think about it that does apply to big oil as well.

[rubl]

Apart from the mention of possible effects on NGV, how about LNG, cooking gas? Price increase expected? Also any quickly found solution will probably effect our electricity bill.

Luckily there is no problem generating electricity assuming we can fuel the electricity generating stations. Takes only four years or so to build one from scratch (including environmental impact studies of course )

Edited February 16, 2013 by rubl

[retell]

What happened to the nuclear power hub, maybe we could slip one of these into action before April, err just a thought

That got postponed while the scientists worked on a paint that doesn't peel for car license plates.

now they have all politicians and scientists in a closed room waiting till it fills up with hot gas so they can collect that

[webfact]

Concerned agencies to discuss disruption of natural gas supply from Myanmar expected in April: Energy Minister /MCOT

[ExpatOilWorker]

"......as Myanmar suspends gas production at Yetakun and Yanada from April 4-12 to repair its drilling rigs."

A technicality, but you don't shut down a gas field because of repairs on drilling rigs, it is because of repairs on production platforms or export lines.

[h90]

Interesting, in that the world is suffering from massive oversupply of natural gas to the point it is presently not worth it financially to harvest yet this little glitch leaves Thailand down 25% on supply? No alternatives? Very strange.

Well ptt must buy the oil from a broker who buys the oil from saudi arabia adding a small fee. While Thailand is exporting its oil to Singapore (broker??).

That broker is a company belong to an influential person in Dubai.

I don't know if it is the same with gas, but I wouldn't be surprise, so they simply can't buy on the free market....

[JetsetBkk]

"the Energy Ministry would try to cap the retail price of diesel fuel at Bt30 per litre"

[tomross46]

Thailand doesn't do "alternatives". Monopolies don't like alternatives, it cuts down on profits.

I thought you were referring to Big Oil....and to a dozen major oil/gas producing countries.

I am sure they have many 'alternative' technologies buried deep in their cupboards...very deep

Nah just referring to blind greed and stupidity, though now I think about it that does apply to big oil as well.

The largest shareholder in Oil in Thailand is the Government which owns the majority share in the companies. Than you have the investors in PTT. PTT is run and operated by politicians which want to take the cream off the top. Politician are the same all over the world. lie cheat and steal. How can PTT and it companies be reporting large profits and than tell the world it can not pay it's debt.

[siampolee]

Plodprasop Suraswadi needs to get those old boat propellers scheme working again and ensure they are connected to mini generators thus then the shortfall in power will be immediately replaced by the1,000, boat propeller project which was so effective in the flooding a time back or so he told us all anyway..

Edited February 16, 2013 by siampolee

[tomross46]

Interesting, in that the world is suffering from massive oversupply of natural gas to the point it is presently not worth it financially to harvest yet this little glitch leaves Thailand down 25% on supply? No alternatives? Very strange.

Well ptt must buy the oil from a broker who buys the oil from saudi arabia adding a small fee. While Thailand is exporting its oil to Singapore (broker??).

That broker is a company belong to an influential person in Dubai.

I don't know if it is the same with gas, but I wouldn't be surprise, so they simply can't buy on the free market....

What are you telling us, that Big Brother has control of PTT and the energy market. It is not that Thailand can not buy on the free market, it is that if they did the amount of kickback would be less.

[Pib]

How about burning rice to generate electricity...kinda like burning coal to generate electricity. The govt has PLENTY of rice in storage due to the rice pledging scheme...and this would free-up precious storage space for this year's rice crop. And the govt could doctor the paperwork and say they really sold the rice to Myanmar.

[Khutan]

...said he would call a meeting with his ministry's officials next week to seek measures to deal with the situation. Initially the ministry will launch a campaign to..

How many times have I heard this before

[retell]

How about burning rice to generate electricity...kinda like burning coal to generate electricity. The govt has PLENTY of rice in storage due to the rice pledging scheme...and this would free-up precious storage space for this year's rice crop. And the govt could doctor the paperwork and say they really sold the rice to Myanmar.

i vote ye for this

[tragickingdom]

Interesting, in that the world is suffering from massive oversupply of natural gas to the point it is presently not worth it financially to harvest yet this little glitch leaves Thailand down 25% on supply? No alternatives? Very strange.

There is no massive oversupply yet; irresponsible governments that are too lazy to develop sustainable energy sources are very busy with "fracking". It is ruining nature but it is cheap. Cheap is by definition always expensive and the world will get what it deserves: A Middle East that will not be able to keep it's citizens quiet, Russia that will feel threatened because it will not be able to sell it's energy anymore and we can count on more global warming with all its problems.

But your oversupply is for now a myth. You still need to get it from A to B and within a reasonable time frame. Liquified gas is too expensive. One would expected however that Thailand and or Burma would have had reservoirs where they could have stored gas that would last for at least a few weeks or months.

[rbrooks]

Plodprasop Suraswadi needs to get those old boat propellers scheme working again and ensure they are connected to mini generators thus then the shortfall in power will be immediately replaced by the1,000, boat propeller project which was so effective in the flooding a time back or so he told us all anyway..

Love the picture of Thai flood control. I forgot about that strategy they used in 2011. I wonder if SNL ( Saturday Night Live) could do a cool skit with it if they have another flood this year.

[hellodolly]

Interesting, in that the world is suffering from massive oversupply of natural gas to the point it is presently not worth it financially to harvest yet this little glitch leaves Thailand down 25% on supply? No alternatives? Very strange.

The oversupply of natural gas is attributable to the increase in production in North America. It does not make economic sense to ship short term LNG supply from North America to Thailand. The most likely suppliers of Indonesia and Malaysia already have existing contracts in place to supply energy hungry China, Japan and South Korea. Thailand will have to seek its gas on the open market which typically charges a higher price than required under supply agreements. I would expect that Thailand will consider a deal for Iranian surplus most likely through Singapore or Indian brokers who have no problem breaking international sanctions.

What are Thailand's chances of trading rice for gas. A win win for Thailand they get all the fuel they need and get rid of unsalable rice. Of course this would eliminate some of the politician's for storage in process of building rice storage places. A defiant dent in there pocket book. Then again who cares they will find another way to shaft Thailand.

[hellodolly]

...said he would call a meeting with his ministry's officials next week to seek measures to deal with the situation. Initially the ministry will launch a campaign to..

How many times have I heard this before

Rumor is that now that Chalerm has successfully dealt with drug runners and had a winning round with the terrorists down south he will be given a commission to look into the situation. He is considering a curfew on when you can have power. Like no power between 6:AM and 6:PM.

But the plan is subject to change depending on the amount of ear medicine he will require to get through the day. Chances are there will be no change in his plan until after noon.

Edited February 16, 2013 by hellodolly

[WonnabeBiker]

Well, why not use scientific solutions to high temperature in houses?

Check out cool roof

Are there no architects in Thailand? How come lots of government buildings have

dark roofs? Even some slum like shack would benefit from a reflective coating.

And how about turning up the dial in all shopping malls by 2 degrees C for an

energy savings of a whopping 6% per degree?

Outside the Major Cineplex near Future Park Rangsit, one feels the cold draft 20 feet away from the permanently open door.

And in Pattaya, I noticed a show shop with 6 aircon units inside but no walls. the shop was open to the

pavement, letting the cold air stream out and hot air rush in.

Then there are all those folks who keep the air con running in vehicles while opening windows.

And don't get me started on bad drivers: some folks vary the gas pedal every second, perpetually,

as if they had a mosquito bite on the little toe. No steady driving, but constant change between accelleration and slowing down.

Oh, and there are some car lovers who red-line their cold engines (often in the early hours and near

a condo building).

Hello! Has anyone ever heard of double glazing and the R-value of winsows?!?

Even at the local school, they keep the windows open when it gets hot and closed when it's

cool in the morning.

An investment would pay for itself within years.

But that's un-Thai, is it? Never change, cling to tradition?

Oh yeah - keep painting without masking! Keep burning the fields!

(Where is a market for top soil & composted fertilizer and anyone can just pile high

organic material, let it rot and then use that to save $$$s. But hey, we prefer

causing smog in a lovely city like Chiang Mai!)

Closing, how about a leaflet on how to de-ice refrigerators and how much one can save by

replace a 20 years old one with a modern one? I know Thais who have no lid

on their ice boxes. Their refrigerator keeps struggling and icing and they think they save,

but they don't.

Why isn't there a government subsidy for passive homes (I like SIPS instead of

brick walls)?!?

[Thai at Heart]

Teaching people to use the thermostats on their ac would be a start.

[animatic]

They could shut down one field, fix the seabed problem, then do the same with the other.

Then there is only a 12.5 % drop in available gas at any one time, rather than 25% all at once.

Logic people, logic!

[Locationthailand]

Interesting, in that the world is suffering from massive oversupply of natural gas to the point it is presently not worth it financially to harvest yet this little glitch leaves Thailand down 25% on supply? No alternatives? Very strange.

There is no massive oversupply yet; irresponsible governments that are too lazy to develop sustainable energy sources are very busy with "fracking". It is ruining nature but it is cheap. Cheap is by definition always expensive and the world will get what it deserves: A Middle East that will not be able to keep it's citizens quiet, Russia that will feel threatened because it will not be able to sell it's energy anymore and we can count on more global warming with all its problems.

But your oversupply is for now a myth. You still need to get it from A to B and within a reasonable time frame. Liquified gas is too expensive. One would expected however that Thailand and or Burma would have had reservoirs where they could have stored gas that would last for at least a few weeks or months.

Sorry to disagree on your myth about a myth not by my sources....

North America has too many natural gas producers. The industry needs a major cleaning out. The most inefficient, high-cost producers must fold. This will bring supply and demand back into balance. Low prices are the market's mechanism for culling the weak players. Four weeks ago, natural gas prices hit a seven-year low of $2.50 per thousand cubic feet. But so far, nothing's happened. No player wants to cut production when they've invested so much money developing it. "Getting $3 is better than nothing," they think. "Better to pump out more now before it falls even farther."

In the last four weeks, gas has jumped above $4 and is closing in on $5. With higher prices, production is growing. According to industry researcher Baker Hughes, the number of rigs drilling for natural gas in the United States has gained in nine of the last 10 weeks. Meanwhile, the oversupply of gas is so great, we've almost run out of room to store it. The Energy Information Administration says U.S. natural gas inventories rose again last week. They are now a just a chip shot from the record high hit in November 2007. Natural gas storage in producing regions – including Texas, Louisiana, and Oklahoma – already reached a record high last month.

Aubrey McClendon, CEO of Chesapeake Energy, the largest independent gas producer in America, figures America's natural gas industry will fill up all available storage by the end of the year. There'll be "involuntary curtailments," he says.

Edited February 17, 2013 by Locationthailand

[Payboy]

So this has nothing to do with the grid outages expected from intense solar flares in April - May?