Asean to form joint venture company to manage gas project
Saturday, February 16 2002 - 03:44 AM WIB
Philippine Undersecretary for Energy Cyril C. Del Callar said during the meeting in Singapore, the TAGP task force members agreed to set up an expert working group to conduct a study on, among others, setting up the Ascope joint venture company. ?The working group is currrently finalising the details of the joint venture company,? he said in a statement faxed to Business Times.
Ascope has been tasked with overseeing the implementation of the TAGP, which was first proposed in 1996 with a US$15 billion price tag. Five years on, the plan has been downsized and proposed investments slashed by more than half. The TAGP is to link supply to demand centres in Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, the Philippines, Myanmar, Vietnam and Thailand.
Other initiatives recommended during the TAGP task force meeting are the setting up of an Asean gas consultative committee, establishment of an Ascope gas centre and a draft model of a gas sale and purchase agreement to be entered into by respective member countries or contracting committee.
On the signing of the memorandum of understanding (MOU) for the TAGP, Callar said all the 10 Asean member countries will sign it during the 20th Asean Ministers of Energy Meeting (AMEM) to be held in Bali, Indonesia, from July 2 to 5.
Asean, the Association of South-East Asian Nations, groups Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore, the Philippines, Brunei, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar.
?The objective of this MOU is to provide a broad framework for Asean members to cooperate in the realisation of the TAGP project to help ensure greater energy security.
?AMEM members also acknowledged that the continued participation of Ascope is necessary for the realisation and implementation of TAGP,? Callar said. He noted that the TAGP task force had identified seven new gas pipeline interconnections as outlined under the 2001 Masterplan.
The seven interconnections are Duri-Malacca, West Natuna-Duyong, East Natuna-Erawan-Kerteh-Singapore, East Natuna-Sabah-Luzon, Malaysia-Thailand Joint Development Area Block B, and Pauh-Arun.
On Wednesday, Petronas Gas Bhd general manager commercial services division Ungku Ainon Ungku Tahir said the TAGP is slowly taking shape, with several pipelines already in place and others in the midst of construction.
?The first project on stream was the Malaysia-Singapore cross-border pipeline, followed by the Yaduna and Yetagun pipeline projects linking Myanmar and Thailand. She also said the Duyung (Kerteh)-West Natuna (Indonesia) pipeline is expected to come on stream in August this year.
Several cross-border gas pipelines that are directly or closely related with TAGP have been completed or firmed up with necessary agreements.
These are: West Natuna-Singapore Pipeline (completed in January 2001); South Sumatra (Gressik)-Singapore Pipeline (gas sale agreement signed in February 2001); West Natuna-Duyong, Malaysia (gas sale and purchase agreements signed in March 2001); East Natuna-JDA-Erawan (negotiations revived in May 2001); the commissioning of the Yadana and Yetagun (Myanmar-Thailand) pipeline; and the Camago-Malampaya gas field development in the Philippines (in operation since October 16 2001).
The Asean Centre for Energy (ACE), in its website, noted that there has been a significant increase in the number of gas pipelines in the Asean region, with about 5,565km built and some 7,000km in the planning stage.
Asean?s consumption of natural gas reached 42 million tonnes of oil equivalent, 71 percent of which was used for power generation. In 1986-1996, gas consumption grew an average of 15 percent annually. (*)