Energy conglomerate Bangchak Corporation Plc has vowed to strike a balance between healthy business growth and lower greenhouse gas emissions within a seven-year time frame.
Profit must blend with successful efforts to reduce gases that cause global warming, said Chaiwat Kovavisarach, president and chief executive of Bangchak.
A budget of 150 billion baht is expected to be allocated to Bangchak and its subsidiaries during the time frame, spanning 2024 to 2030, he said.
The company will spend 30% of the budget supporting oil refineries and marketing plans, with the same amount allotted to the upstream petroleum business, said Mr Chaiwat.
Another 30% of the investment is to support power generation based on clean energy development, with the remaining 10% allocated to the company's bio-based business and new businesses.
Bangchak-owned Okea ASA, a Norway-based oil and gas drilling company, is increasing its production capacity through new development and petroleum asset acquisition.
The company aims to produce 100 kilo barrels of oil equivalent per day (KBOED) by 2030, up from 23 KBOED in 2023 and 40 KBOED projected for 2024, he said.
Okea plans to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 30% by 2030 through using renewable energy for oil and gas exploration and production.
Bangchak's buyout of Esso Thailand should strengthen its oil refinery business in Chon Buri's Sri Racha district, following the integration of the oil refinery facilities of the two companies, said Mr Chaiwat.
Bangchak aims to increase the number of petrol stations to 2,500 by 2030, up from 2,203 as of October 2023, he said.
To support a campaign to reduce carbon dioxide emissions in the aviation industry, the company is preparing to produce seven kilo barrels per day of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) by the first quarter of 2025 at its refinery in Bangkok's Phra Khanong district, which is set to be an SAF factory.
SAF can replace jet fuel because their properties are similar, while the former has a smaller carbon footprint.
In the bio-based business, BBGI Plc, the biotechnology arm of Bangchak, set a target to produce industrial enzymes amounting to 1 million litres by 2030, up from 0.2 million litres in 2023, said Mr Chaiwat.
Last year BBGI partnered with Biom Co, a startup spun off from Chulalongkorn University, to commercialise new bio-based products.
Biom was founded at the university's Faculty of Science as a startup specialising in studying and developing enzymes for a range of purposes.
One product is a cleaning enzyme that can detoxify chemicals left on vegetables and fruit.
BBGI aims to have sales of bio-based products make up 70% of total revenue, with 30% from biofuel business.
In the non-oil business, Bangchak wants to expand the number of coffee shops under its Inthanin brand to 2,000 by 2030, up from 1,030 in 2023.
According to Mr Chaiwat, Bangchak aims to increase earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation to 100 billion baht in 2037, up from 44 billion in 2022.