Bangkok--30 Nov--PTT PTT Exploration and Production Public Company Limited or PTTEP holds a sail-away ceremony for the Arthit Central Processing Platform, one of the biggest of its kind, on 30 November 2007 at McDermott yard in Batam, Indonesia. The platform will be the heart of the Arthit Project which will produce natural gas for Thailand. Addressing the guests at the ceremony, H.E. Dr. Piyasvasti Amranand (ปิยะสวัสดิ์ อมระนันทน์), the Thai Minister of Energy said that gas production from Arthit will serve the demand in Thailand for at least 2 decades. While natural gas from Myanmar is already flowing into the country, in the foreseeable future he would like to see Thailand bringing in natural gas from Bangladesh, Malaysia and Indonesia. He encouraged PTTEP to secure more exploration and production rights particularly in neighbouring countries as there is a huge demand locally particularly in the power generating sector. He added that the Ministry of Energy is working with PTT and PTTEP to promote the use of compressed natural gas or CNG for the transport sector. At 16,750 tons, it is one of the biggest central processing platforms in the Asia-Pacific Region. It employs the most modern equipment available and has been under the supervision of PTTEP engineers from the start. Built over a period of about 30 months, and had gone through many processes ranging from design, engineering, procurement, equipment and fabrication of the topside, PTTEP President Mr. Maroot Mrigadat (มารุต มฤคทัต) is proud that it is now ready to be brought to Thailand for installation at its place in the Navamindra Petroleum Area in the Gulf of Thailand.Mr. Maroot said that the platform is highly automated and can be remotely operated which means PTTEP can operate it with fewer people while being able to increase operating reliability. Once it started production in 2008, Arthit Project will be one of the three major gas fields that PTTEP developed in the southern part of the Gulf of Thailand. The other two projects are Bongkot where the newly developed Bongkot North and South extension will soon come on stream, and the Malaysia-Thailand Joint Development Area which is expected to start production in 2009. The three projects are expected to have a combined production of about 1.5 billion standard cubic feet of gas per day (BSCFD), up from 650 MMSCFD produced at Bongkot today. Other facilities at the project including 90 production wells, the living quarter, 6 wellhead platforms, five gas pipelines and a condensate pipeline are now in place. Production is expected to start in February with initial production capacity of 330 MMCFD. Arthit Project is situated in the Gulf of Thailand about 230 kilometres off the coast of Songkhla Province. The project is a joint venture of PTTEP, the operator with 80% interest, Chevron Thailand E&P with 16% interest and MOECO Thailand with 4% interest. For more information, please contact Sidhichai Jayant Tel. 0-2537-4592, 089-205-4471 Email: [email protected] Tongchit Pongorapin Tel. 0-2537-4587, 089-968-7033 Email: [email protected] Panlop Limsakul Tel. 0-2537-4507, 089-968-1219 Email: [email protected]