Korea to help develop local industry

PETROLEUM

The Energy Ministry has signed an agreement with the Korean government's petroleum institute to exchange knowledge on technology and industry development.

Metta Buntherngsuk, director-general of the Department of Energy Business, yesterday signed the memorandum of understanding with the Korea Institute of Petroleum Management.

"The agreement is aimed at creating a shortcut for the development of petroleum for both countries," he said.

Thailand needs to develop its product quality and to improve its testing equipment to produce better technical analysis in all areas of the petroleum industry. South Korea, meanwhile, is seeking expertise in alternative fuels. It plans to introduce gasohol with less than 5% ethanol next year, followed by biodiesel with 3% biofuel in 2012.

Thailand is more advanced than most other Asian countries in alternative fuel products such as gasohol and can help its Korean peers, said Mr Metta.

"In the meantime, we still have a problem in the quality of our testing systems and techniques."

"There are many oil traders running businesses here, all of their products need to be [tested to] prove their quality and safety standards, but our laboratories are inadequate and the procedures are expensive," said Mr Metta.

The agreement with the Korea Institute of Petroleum Management was expected to be the first of many collaborative projects between the department and agencies from other countries, he said.The data and technology exchange would also cover human resources, as well as research and development into alternative and mainstream fuels.

"We are the leader in alternative fuels such as ethanol, biogas, biomass and we have a huge surplus output. The co-development with others will help absorb the surplus," he said.

Korea will need to secure a stable supply of ethanol before the country starts mandating the use of ethanol-based fuel next year.

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