PTT Exploration and Production Plc (PTTEP) says it is on the lookout to spend its $3 billion in cash on hand wisely by possibly acquiring assets at good prices.
Tevin: "Shale is the game changer."
"If we adjust our investments in some of the current assets we have, we could play around with our cash," CEO Tevin Vongvanich told Asia Focus. "We have our doors open, our ears and eyes on the lookout in all areas."
His preference is Asia, which is closer to home, but he's also open to opportunities in the shale oil and shale gas business.
"Shale today is the game changer for the industry and it's better for us to enter the market at these low prices than when the prices were high," said Mr Tevin.
The company has about $3 billion in cash on hand from capital-raising exercises in recent years. Mr Tevin said it had barely used any of the funds for acquiring assets during the period when oil prices were hovering around $100 a barrel.
He said PTTEP was focusing on four or five assets for which development would depend on the viability of the fields and fluctuations in oil prices.
"What we can slow down we will, what we do not need we will get out of, and what can fly, we will undertake," he said. By flying he meant production that was economically viable.
PTTEP has allocated $24.29 billion until 2019 for capital expenditure and is eager to undertake more projects but only those already in production.
The dip in oil prices has prompted PTTEP to further revise its plans and look for projects that would still be viable with oil at $40 a barrel, after lowering its projections to $55-70 in December from just over $100 earlier.
PTTEP has also launched a "Save to Safe" campaign to cut costs and ensure profitability. Its fourth-quarter earnings, due on Jan 29, may include high impairment costs on some assets it had valued at a much higher oil price levels, but as this is more of an accounting loss, the impact is going to be limited.
"We are facing a viral attack (from low oil prices) and it's time we assessed ourselves. So if and when opportunities come, we want to look only into assets that are operational," Mr Tevin said.