PTT Exploration and Production Plc (PTTEP) plans to emphasise business in the Middle East as it considers increasing petroleum production and offering new energy business opportunities, says chief executive and president Montri Rawanchaikul.
Domestically the company is following a plan to increase gas production at the Erawan gas field to 800 million standard cubic feet per day by April next year to help Thailand be less dependent on imported liquefied natural gas (LNG).
High LNG prices last year were attributed for expensive power bills in the country.
For its overseas business, PTTEP regards the Middle East as a key region for its petroleum production and starting other enterprises, including solar and wind energy as well as hydrogen fuel, said Mr Montri.
He did not elaborate on the company's future renewable energy business in the Middle East.
According to PTTEP, Oman and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are two countries that serve the company's petroleum exploration and production.
In Oman, PTTEP produces crude oil, gas and condensate from three areas: Block 6, its largest crude oil asset; Block 53; and Block 61.
Block 6, which covers around one-third of the country, is operated by Petroleum Development of Oman Co.
The firm plans to increase its crude oil production capacity to 800 kilobarrels per day (KBPD) by 2027, up from 660 KBPD at present.
PTTEP also made a 20% investment in Block 12, which is currently in the exploration stage.
In the UAE, the company is exploring oil and gas resources in three areas: Abu Dhabi offshore 1-3, Sharjah onshore area A, and Sharjah onshore area C.
Its proportion of investment in these three projects is 30%, 25% and 25%, respectively.
In another development, PTTEP's parent firm PTT Plc plans to spend US$7 billion co-developing a project to produce green hydrogen with its partners Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand and ACWA Power, a Saudi Arabia-based firm specialising in renewable energy.
Under the project, a green hydrogen factory is scheduled for Thailand with an annual production capacity of 225,000 tonnes. Green hydrogen, which can be used to fuel power generation and manufacturing processes, is produced by using electricity made from renewable energy to split water molecules into oxygen and hydrogen.