Bangkok--13 Nov--PTTEP PTT Exploration and Production Public Company Limited or PTTEP revised its investment plan and cut costs by 10%. It is moving forward with the Arthit Project which is expected to come on stream in February 2008 and raise PTTEP’s production volume up from 180,000 barrel of oil equivalent per day to 241,000 barrel of oil equivalent per day.PTTEP Revised Its Investment Plan for 2007 and Cut Costs by 10% PTTEP, in its attempt to be in keeping with the changing situation, revised its investment plan for 2007 and the five years plan for 2007-2011 which it earlier made at the beginning of this year. A factor that necessitated the revision which was done in September included the appreciation of the baht from 38 baht per US dollar to 35 baht per US dollar. The revision also enabled the company to cut some of its costs and it managed to reduce its investment budget for 2007 by 10% from 74,512 million baht to 66,730 million baht. The revised five years plan managed to cut cost by 4,000 million baht and brought down the investment budget from 285,000 million baht to 281,000 million baht. The five years plan, however, does not include the development costs for Blocks M9 in Myanmar and 433a and 416b in Algeria. PTTEP has already laid down a development plan for M9 which calls for an investment of at least US$ 1 billion.PTTEP Plans to Move the Newly Built Arthit Processing Platform from the Construction site in Batam to the Gulf of Thailand Next Month PTTEP is moving ahead with its plan to start the production of natural gas from Arthit Project in the Gulf of Thailand in February 2008. The 16,800 tons Arthit Processing Platform which is built at a plant in Batam, Indonesia, is the biggest and heaviest of its kind in Southeat Asia. The platform will be launched at the end of this month and will be transported to the Gulf of Thailand for installation. PTTEP’s investment of US$ 1 billion so far at Arthit was for the construction and installation of the central processing plant, the living quarter, the flare tripod, 6 wellhead platforms, 5 gas pipelines, one condensate pipeline, and for the drilling of 90 production wells. Initial production is set at 330 million standard cubic feet per day which will help push PTTEP’s sales volume up to 241,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day in 2008.PTTEP Obtained Exploration Rights in Bahrain PTTEP last October won the rights for petroleum exploration in the off shore Exploration Block 2 in Bahrain in a round of bidding held by the National Oil and Gas Authority (NOGA). The right to the block which is situated in the northern part of Bahrain is another milestone for the company because it gives PTTEP an opportunity to expand cooperation and investment in the Middle East. It strengthened the bond of friendship between Thailand and Bahrain particularly in the field of energy. Exploration Block 2 has high petroleum potential. Earlier in 2005, PTTEP signed a technical evaluation agreement with Bahrain Petroleum Company or BAPCO, the national petroleum company of Bahrain. The agreement encompassed technical evaluation of petroleum potential in the offshore exploration block, using existing seismic survey data. The result of the studies gave PTTEP enough confident to take part in the bidding round which it won. Exploration Block 2 covers an area of 2,228 square kilometers. Initial studies showed that it has crude oil potential. PTTEP will be the operator and will hold 100% share. Exploration work will start after PTTEP signs the exploration and production sharing agreement (EPSA) with NOGA which is expected to take place in the near future. For more information, please contact Sidhichai Jayant Tel. +66 (02) 537 4592 E-mail: [email protected] Tongchit Pongorapin Tel. +66 (02) 537 4587 E-mail: [email protected] Fax +66 (02) 537 4982