Chevron/Thai unaffected by the US financial crisis

http://nationmultimedia.com/2008/10/18/business/business_30086317.php


By Watcharapong Thongrung
Published on October 18, 2008

The Nation, Agencies

Chevron Thailand Exploration and Production, a unit of the second-biggest US energy firm Chevron Corp, says it has not been affected by the US financial crisis.


President Tara Tiradnakorn said there was no sign the outbreak would force the company here to adjust its exploration and development investment plan in Asia-Pacific.


He said parent Chevron Corp was pressing for development in Thailand, Cambodia, Burma, Vietnam, Indonesia, the Philippines, China, Bangladesh and Australia, as could be seen from its annual investment budget for the region of Bt4 billion, 20 per cent of its global investment, on a forecast that demand for oil and natural gas in the region will overtake the US and the EU.


In 2030 demand growth for oil and natural gas in Asia-Pacific will be 27 per cent, compared to 23 per cent in 2005, Tara said.



From the forecast, he said, Chevron will have to invest more in petroleum development in Thailand. Currently it operates about 20 projects in the Gulf of Thailand, with 12 production platforms and 305 fields that produce 138,000 barrels of crude oil and 1,700 million cubic feet of natural gas a day.


Chevron Corp has given Chevron Thailand an investment budget of US$3.1 billion (Bt106 billion) to develop the Platong 2 field in the gulf from 2008-2022. This covers a central production platform, a residential platform and five well-head platforms to meet higher demand for natural gas by 2011.


Platong 2 will be near an existing Chevron field that now produces 30,000 barrels of crude a day. That field has a full capacity of 420 million cubic feet of natural gas a day. The company will start constructing a central production platform for Platong 2 and the existing field in mid-2010 to come on line by the second quarter of 2011 and supply 14 per cent of total domestic power demand.


Tara said Chevron Thailand was also studying exploration and production of petroleum in its new G4/50, G6/50, G7/50 and G8/50 Gulf of Thailand fields, for which it was awarded government concessions last year.


Chevron Corp said it would spend almost $6 billion on Asian projects this year and the global financial crisis would not derail expansion plans, according to Bloomberg.


In Asia, Chevron has oil-exploration ventures in Thailand, Indonesia and China and refineries in Singapore and Thailand, plus one refinery in Australia.


It will spend a quarter of the $23 billion allocated for global expansion in Asia this year, Kurt Glaubitz, head of media relations for exploration and development, said in Hong Kong Thursday.


"We have a $5-billion credit facility that we expect will be fully available to us, and our cash position is strong," said Glaubitz, who is based at the company's headquarters in San Ramon, California.

Under the University Partnership Programme (UPP) agreement signed on Thursday, Chevron Thailand Exploration and Production along with PTT Exploration and Production will jointly provide support of $10 million.


Chevron initiated the UPP with 18 universities from 10 countries, including Thailand.


Chevron Thailand Exploration and Production has around 100 employees in petroleum geology, most expatriates.