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Thailand sees Yadana gas pipe proje



Subject: Thailand sees Yadana gas pipe project on schedule

Tuesday March 11 11:06 AM EST 

Thailand sees Yadana gas pipe project on schedule

By Anchalee Koetsawang 

BANGKOK, March 11 (Reuter) - A pipeline project which will transport natural
gas from the Yadana field
offshore Burma to Thailand is expected to be completed on schedule despite
some environmental
concerns, a Thai official said. 

"Based on the current situation, we believe that the pipeline will be ready
for operation by mid-1998, both
from the Yadana field to the border and from the border to a power plant in
Thailand," said a senior
official at the Petroleum Authority of Thailand (PTT). 

PTT was in charge of laying the 260 km pipeline from the Thai-Burmese border
to a 2,800 power station
in Ratchaburi province. The whole pipeline from Yadana will be 699-km long. 

The official, who asked not to be identified, told Reuters that PTT recently
held a two-day technical
hearing on the impact of the project on the environment. 

Those who oppose the project claimed the pipeline will run through a
first-class watershed area and
preserved forests in Kanchanaburi province near the border and will also
affect wildlife habitat. 

The finding was presented to a panel of environmental experts for the Office
of Environmental Policy and
Planning which will deliver their conclusions on the project this month, he
said. 

"We believe the project will go through without any hurdle," said the
official. "PTT had studied the area
for a long time before choosing this route which we believe has minimal
impact on the environment." 

He said PTT will soon sign an agreement with Tasco Management, a
construction firm, to lay the
pipeline. 

The onshore pipeline laying from Burma to the Thai border is expected to be
ready by May, he said.
However, this schedule did not include any equipment installation. 

The Yadana project will initially provide 325 million cubic feet per day
(mmcfd) of natural gas to Thailand
in 1998. Under the 30-year contract, the natural gas supply from the field
will increase to 525 mmcfd in
1999. 

Yadana's gas in place is estimated to be over five trillion cubic feet. PTT
Exploration and Production Plc
PTTE.BK , a unit of PTT, holds 25.5 percent interest in the field, Unocal
Corp 28.26 percent, Total SA
TOTF.SA 31.24 percent and Burma state-run oil firm Myanma Oil and Gas
Enterprice (MOGE) 15
percent. 

-- Bangkok newsroom +662 652 0642