PTT Exploration and Production Plc (PTTEP) saw its net profit rise to US$1.18 billion in the first half of this year, up from $919 million in the corresponding period last year, as its petroleum sales increased.
The average sales volume was 452,799 barrels of oil equivalent per day (BOED), a year-on-year increase of 1.4% from 446,519 BOED.
This year, PTTEP racked up revenue from a successful increase in gas production capacity at the Erawan gas field in the Gulf of Thailand to 400 million cubic feet per day (MMSCFD) at the end of the second quarter.
Production stood at between 250-300 MMSCFD when PTTEP entered the area in April last year, said Montri Rawanchaikul, chief executive of PTTEP.
The company faced a two-year delay in its plan to enter the gas block for gas production preparation.
The problem stemmed from a legal dispute between the Department of Mineral Fuels and US-based Chevron Corp, which previously operated at the Erawan gas field.
Gas production from Erawan is expected to run at full tilt and reach the level listed in the gas sales agreement of 800 MMSCFD in April next year, as committed in a production-sharing contract made with the Department of Mineral Fuels.
Authorities want to boost domestic gas production after its decrease caused Thailand to import more liquefied natural gas, which was expensive last year after the Russia-Ukraine war broke out
PTTEP looks forward to earning revenue from two new petroleum blocks – G1/65 and G3/65 – after it won exploration and production licences at the two sites from the government.
If petroleum is discovered there, the company will develop facilities to support petroleum production, said Mr Montri.
In the clean energy sector, PTTEP partnered with five companies to develop a large-scale green hydrogen project at an area called "Block Z1-02" in Oman under a concession granted by that country's government.
The project is scheduled to commence production of 220,000 tonnes of green hydrogen a year in 2030.
Green hydrogen is clean fuel that can be used to fuel power generation and manufacturing processes.