Thailand to push energy integration among Asian countries

Thailand is committed to serving as a catalyst for the integration of Southeast Asia's energy supply networks, according to Energy Minister Prommin Lertsuridej. Dr Prommin outlined the country's ambitious plans to develop a cross-border energy network in an address to the APEC CEO summit.
The proposal includes plans to build an energy land bridge, a 230 km oil pipeline in southern Thailand from the Andaman Sea to the Gulf of Thailand. Other projects include the ASEAN power interconnection grid and the ASEAN gas transmission network, already under development.

The proposed oil pipeline would serve as an alternative oil transport route from the Middle East to the Far East. Oil is currently shipped through the congested Straits of Malacca. Dr Prommin said energy supply networks should extend from southern China to key ASEAN states and Indochina.
Thailand's main push will be on the proposed land bridge, which will form an integral part of the government's plan to have the country replace Singapore as a regional oil trading centre. Thailand is counting on China to help bring the land bridge project forward and is looking forward to serving major oil consumers in North Asia including Japan and South Korea.

State-controlled Sinochem has expressed an interest in the project as well as buying a stake in Thai Oil, the operator of Thailand's largest oil refinery, Thai officials said.
Chuck Williamson, chairman and CEO of Unocal, said worldwide energy demand in 2030 would be one-third greater than at present. Most of the growth would come from Asia with some $ 3 tn worth of new investment needed to create an expanded energy infrastructure in the APEC economies. Reliance on fossil fuel is likely to remain the same at 90 % of the energy mix. Its replacement by renewable energy would not represent a big factor until the 2030s and beyond, he told an APEC CEO Summit panel discussion on energy.