Increased natural gas output could help lower energy bills
Power bills could drop towards the end of the year thanks to an increased natural gas output from the Erawan field in the Gulf of Thailand of 210 to 400 million cubic feet per day, the Department of Mineral Fuels says.
Department director-general Sarawut Kaewtathip on Thursday quoted natural gas surveying and extracting company PTTEP Energy Development’s report that it had increased output to 400 million cubic feet per day after installing 8 wellhead platforms and four drilling rigs in plot G1/61 of the Gulf of Thailand.
He said the company is also procuring an additional two drilling rigs this year. The Erawan field currently has a total of 96 wellheads, and with more equipment to hand, PTTEP expects to meet its goal of having 273 wellheads by year-end.
Sarawut said that from the report, the department estimates that natural gas output from December this year will rise to 600 million cubic feet per day and then to 800 million cubic feet per day by April next year.
“Thailand’s increasing natural gas output means we can reduce imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from overseas for power generation,” he said. “This will result in fewer fluctuations in the price of power bills and help strengthen the country’s power stability.”
Last month the Energy Ministry announced that it expected to cut the fuel tariff (Ft) in September, leading to a significant drop in the price of electricity.
Consumers can expect a reduction of 40-50 satang per unit for the September-December electricity billing cycle. The Ft rate currently stands at 4.70 baht per unit.
The planned reduction has been made possible by the easing of global prices of oil and LNG, as well as projected higher natural gas output from the Erawan field, the ministry said.
