Thai PTT hopes three more projects get court clearance to proceed

04 December 2009 11:29  [Source: ICIS news]

By Pearl Bantillo and Nurluqman Suratman

SINGAPORE (ICIS news)--Southeast Asia’s oil and gas giant PTT is hopeful that three of its 18 projects still under suspension will be allowed to proceed based on a provision stipulated in a court ruling on 2 December, a company spokesperson said on Friday.

The company’s gas separation unit 6, its barrier, cross-linked polyethylene (BPEX) expansion project and its ethanolamine project had been approved prior to the adoption of the country’s Constitution in August 2007, the spokesperson said.

The Supreme Administrative Court upheld on Wednesday the suspension of 65 out of the 76 projects in Rayong province, where the Thai petrochemical hub of Mab Ta Phut is located, citing Article 67 of the highest law of the country, which guarantees the right of its people.

In a decision in late September 2009, the Thai Central Administrative Court issued an injunction on all 76 projects, heeding the call of provincial residents who claimed that the projects were environmentally harmful.

PTT's 25 projects were included in the list and another 20 are those of Thai conglomerate Siam Cement Group (SCG).

On 2 December, the Supreme Court cleared eleven projects that promote the use of clean energy, seven of which were PTT’s and two SCG’s, but the bulk of the companies' projects were suspended.

Beyond the projects directly hit by the court injunction, start-ups of other major projects could be delayed, said Naphat Chantaraserekul, a Bangkok–based analyst at Kim Eng Institutional Research.

While the 1m tonne/year ethane cracker of PTT Chemical, a subsidiary of PTT, is not among the affected projects from the very start, its operation would be impacted if PTT’s gas separation unit 6 project failed to get cleared by the court, he said.

The cracker was supposed to derive its gas feedstock from this unit.

Naphat said that PTT might have to divert gas from another plant that was scheduled for maintenance in the first quarter of next year to the new unit in Rayong.

“The impact would not just be about one or two plants shutting down. It will impact customers, suppliers and creditors, especially those projects that are involved in project financing. Without them coming in, those new projects cannot start,” Naphat of Kim Eng said.

US major Dow Chemical, in partnership with SCG, also has a petrochemical project in Mab Ta Phut under construction and due to come on stream early next year.

"We are currently assessing the impact of the court’s decision. We are in full compliance with existing regulatory requirements and remain highly committed to ensuring that all of our projects fully comply with government regulations,” a Dow spokesperson told ICIS news.

There may also be wider implications on investment flows in Thailand with the suspension of the Rayong projects.

"Foreign direct investment into Thailand might slow down as a result (of the ruling) as investors will be cautious and we will see come impact to the economy because there would be a chain effect [that would] take place," said Naphat.

 

65 Rayong Projects Under Suspension as of 4 December 2009
Project	Company
Barrier, cross-linked polyethylene (BPEX) expansion	Bangkok Polyethylene
Surfaced steel sheet expansion	G Steel
Ethanolamine project	Tha Ethanolamine
Epoxy-resin expansion	Aditya Berla Chemicals (Thailand)
Hot-rolled structural steel production	Siam Yamato Steel
Coated steel-sheet expansion projection	Siam Tinplate
Sixth gas separation plant	PTT
Cold-rolled stainless steel expansion project	Thainox Stainless
Third-phase steel production	Tycoons Worldwide Group (Thailand)
Extended ethylene oxide ethylene glycol manufacturing	TOT Glycol
Acrylonitrile-methyl metacrylate manufacturing	PTT Asahi Chemical
Bisphenol A manufacturing	PTT Phenol
Extended polycarbonate expansion	Thai Polycarbonate
Methyl-metacrylate manufacturning (second plant)	Thai MMA
Polyethylene expansion	Siam Polyethylene
Polyvinyl plastic-power expansion	Thai Plastic and Chemicals
Vinyl chloride monomer expansion	Thai Plastic and Chemicals
Propylene oxide and propylene glycol manufacturing	MPT HPPO Manufacturing
Polyethylene expansion	PTT Chemical
Extended part of Hemaraj, Industrial Estate in Pluak Dan district	IEAT and Eastern Industrial Estate
Amendments to phenol plant	PTT Phenol
ECH pilot plant	Aditya Berla Chemicals (Thailand)
Acrylonitrile-methyl metacrylate project	PTT Asahi Chemical
Polyethylene project	Siam Polyethylene
Bisphenol A expansion	Bayer Thai
Extension of Hemaraj Industrial Estate in Mab ta Phut	IEAT and Hemaraj eastern Seaboard Industrial Estate
Chloralkaline expansion project - vinyl plant improvement	Vinythai
Polyethylene expansion	PTT CHemical
Bisphenol A manufacturing	PTT Phenol
Steel smelting plant - steel structure project	AISCO Resources Pte
NBR latex manufacturing	Bangkok Synthetics
Nylon expansion	Ube Nylon
PTA-CTA expanion	Siam Mitsui PTA
Steel rod expansion	BRP Steel
Aromatics efficiency enhancement	PTT Aromatics and Refining
DME removal unit, hydrocarbon scrubber installation	Bangkok Synthetics
Formaldehyde-urea formaldehyde expansion	Vanachai Chemical Industries
Changes to propylene oxide-poylene glycol plant	HTP HPPO Manufacturing
Changes to polyethylene plant	Siam Synthetic Latex
Addition of catalyst and pipe compound units to polyethylene plastic pellet plant	Thai Polyethylene
Spare cracking unit construction for olefins plant	PTT Chemical
Acrylonitrile methyl methacrylate manufacturing plant	PTT Chemical
Acrylonitrile methyl methacrylate manufacturing plant	PTT Asahi Chemical
Addition of compound production unit to BPEX plant	Bangkok Polyethylene
Polyethylene terephthalate expansion	Thai Pet Resin
Polycarbonate expansion	Bayer Thai
Olefins plant enhancement	SCG Chemicals
Polyethylene plastic pellet manufacturing plant	Thai Polyethylene
IRL Industrial Estate	IEAT and IRL 1996
Enlargement of cold-riolled and galvanised steel manufacturing area	Blue Scope Steel (Thailand)
Environment report on synthethic rubber production	BST Elastomers
Environment report on hydrogen production	MTP HP JV (Thailand)
Environment report on plastic power production	Thai Plastic and Chemicals
IPP Industrial Zone	IPP (Thailand)
Galvanised steel sheet manufacturing project	Not available
Galvanised steel sheet manufacturing project	JFE Steel Galvanising (Thailand)
Pluak Dang Industrial Park project	Pluak Dang Industrial Park
Indsutrial waste service centre	Siam Environmental Technology
Petrochemical wharf and depot expansion	Mab Ta Phut Tank Terminal
Petrochemical tank wharf expansion	Mab Ta Phut Tank Terminal
Co-generation power lant	Glow Hemaraj Energy
Natural gas pipeline to ink PTT Utility - Aromatics Thailand Mab Ta Phut Olefins	Aromatics (Thailand)
Power plant	Amata Steam Supply
Petrochemical pipeline	Styrene Monomer-Siam Polyethylene Rayong Olefins
Second central utility centre	PPT Utility

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By: Nurluqman Suratnam

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