Thailand Sees Diminishing Natural Gas Reserves

Natural gas reserves of Thailand are limited at 18 years if no new discoveries are made.

This was revealed by Kurujit Nakornthap, deputy permanent secretary of the country's Energy Ministry during a seminar on Thailand's energy outlook.

Stating that the ministry has accorded top priority on tapping new resources to ensure national energy stability, he pegged the present level of natural-gas reserves, both proven and probable, at 23 trillion cubic feet. If the country produces 3,747 million cubic feet per day (MMcfd) and fails to strike new reserves, the current reserves will not last beyond 18 years.

The factor that has fuelled the threat to the country's energy security is its over-dependence on natural gas for generating electricity which accounts for 71 per cent of energy sources as per estimates this year.This would mean an import commitment of 702MMcfd from Burma this year. Thermal power plants and proposed nuclear plants face a bleak future due to opposition from communities.

Alarmed over the situation,department of Mineral Fuels director-general Songpop Polachan said the country would embark on seeking additional domestic petroleum sources through such rapid measures as  planned granting of new concessions, promotion of production in small petroleum fields, and a  feasibility study on the production of natural gas from high-carbon-dioxide fields.

This year, natural-gas production in Thailand is expected to reach a combined 3,717MMcfd, up from  3,511MMcfd as against a demand from  the industrial sector at a combined 4,006MMcfd, down from  4,039MMcfd last year

Of the country's proven reserves natural gas stood at 11.026 trillion cubic feet as of 2009, with total probable reserves at 6.170 trillion cubic feet.