Thai Oil Pcl, Thailand’s top oil refiner, is targeting Myanmar for its investments in a bid to expand its footprint in the ASEAN region, a top company executive said.
The company, nearly half owned by Thailand’s state-controlled PTT Pcl, is keen to upgrade two oil refineries in Myanmar, which has capacity of about 20,000 barrels per day (bpd) each, Chief Executive Officer Veerasak Kositapaisal told a news conference.
He said Thai Oil is preparing for investments in ASEAN to welcome the upcoming ASEAN Economic Community (AEC), which will take effect next year, adding that his company is also eyeing Indonesia for investments.
The Myanmar government has invited the PTT Group to visit the country, while Thai Oil offered a bid to modernise the two aging oil refineries near Yangon. Myanmar is expected to announce its selection of the bid winner within this year.
Thai Oil has also signed an initial collaboration agreement with Pertamina, Indonesia’s state oil and natural gas mining company owning all refineries in the country with a total production capacity of 1.2 million barrels.
Thailand’s demand for oil this year is expected to grow only 0.8 percent due to the country’s decelerating economy, or 139 million litres per day, most of which is diesel, at 57 million litres per day.
Thai Oil said its 275,000 barrels-per-day (bpd) refinery will run at 95 percent of capacity this year, lower than last year, mainly due to a 55-day maintenance shutdown from June.
