Bangkok--17 Dec--PTT 17 December 2007, Four Seasons Hotel, Bangkok — Dr. Kurujit Nakornthap, Deputy Permanent Secretary to Ministry of Energy, today presided over the signing ceremony of a new ‘Unocal 123’ agreement between the gas buyer and the sellers. The signatory parties were represented by Mr. Prasert Bunsumpun, PTT President; Mr. Tara Tiradnakorn, President, Chevron Thailand Exploration and Production; Mr. Yoshiyuki Kagawa, President and CEO, Mitsui Oil Exploration; and Mr. Maroot Mrigadat, President, PTTEP Plc. The application of natural gas as a major fuel not only supports the growing domestic demand in line with national economic expansion, but strengthens future energy security as well. Saying that this signing was critical to Thailand’s energy security , Dr. Kurujit Nakornthap, Deputy Permanent Secretary to Ministry of Energy added that it guaranteed adequate and secure supply of gas well into future years. Meanwhile, PTT would actively source additional supplies to ensure that Thailand enjoys direct access to natural gas supplies at all times whether for power generation, industrial use, or transport. Besides maximizing indigenous resource application, the minister said, Thailand would be using a clean, environmentally friendly, and competitively-priced energy while saving foreign-currency payment otherwise needed for oil imports, which are not only increasingly costly, but whose prices are also highly volatile under world situations. In addition, Thailand would benefit directly from the investments incurred in the Unocal 123 acreage, including petroleum royalty, government take, and petroleum income tax payment — altogether worth about 200 billion baht over 2012-2022. Stressing that this represented an integration of the former ‘Unocal 1’ and ‘Unocal 2/3’ agreements to raise production efficiency and maximize the use of natural resources, the PTT President said that since both agreements covered gas fields in the same vicinity, the integration made good sense in view of joint production plans. The integrated acreage is expected to hold roughly 5 trillion cubic feet while the daily gas delivery would rise from 740 million cubic feet a day to 1.24 billion cubic feet a day, effective from 2012 onward. No change had been made to the price structures, with only some adjustment made to reflect production costs in line with world oil prices. On average, the gas price will be not only comparable with those for Pailin and Bongkot fields, but also competitive with competing power-generating fuels, including oil and coal. A 4% discount is in place for the delivered portion beyond 115% of the annual contractual quantity. For the 10 years covered under this agreement, the total value of the gas is roughly 1 trillion baht, assuming an average fuel-oil price of $50/barrel and an average exchange rate of 35 baht to the US dollar. Mr. Prasert added that PTT is striving to secure adequate gas supplies in a timely fashion to meet the domestic demand at suitable prices. Today the national oil company has sourced gas from fields in the Gulf of Thailand and neighboring countries to ensure growth in delivery of 5% a year. Besides meeting the domestic demand in line with the continuous rise in economic growth, PTT’s actions are helping Thailand save foreign-currency payment for oil imports.