Pyae Wa Htun said “if 300 million cubic feet is taken back from them….”

 

Myanmar will need to add 2,500 megawatts of energy, equal to 500 million cubic feet of natural gas, to the national grid in 2015, according to calculations by the Ministry of Electric Power.

“The ministry said the maximum energy that can be added is 14,000MW in 2030 and the lowest is 9,000MW,” said Pyae Wa Htun, CEO of Parami Energy Group of Companies. “In 2015, we need an estimated extra 2,500MW of energy. Only 1,000MW would be required to be arranged if about 1,500MW can be gotten from the energy already sold to foreign countries. There are contracts signed with foreign countries for deep sea energy exploration projects. If 300 million cubic feet is taken back from them, it can help generate 1,500MW of energy. If hydropower is available at that time, it would be convenient.”As Myanmar is facing an energy crisis, there is a need to renegotiate with neighbouring countries. The government should not give priority to exports without providing sufficiently for the local population, he said.

“Right now, there has to be a limit on exports. Though gas agreements exist, we can re-buy from them. Lets say we produce LNG and get the price of US$13 [Bt420] per unit. If LNG is bought, it needs to be transformed from liquid to gas. So, we can discuss a middle price. We can request to take some back from the pipeline,” he added.

“Now, this is where regional governments have a role. They can decide and accomplish this by themselves. If that happens, I think, electrification could be doubled to 60 per cent of the country from 30 per cent right now,” he said.

At the moment, 1,995 million cubic feet is drawn per day from four natural gas projects, of which 1,699 million cubic feet is exported. Shwe Natural Gas Project exports 379 million cubic feet of natural gas every day to China while only 17 million cubic feet is retained for domestic use. Yadana Natural Gas Project produces 910 million cubic feet of natural gas every day but only 119 million cubic feet is for domestic use. However, another 100 million cubic feet is likely to be available. The Ye Ta Khun Project exports all its 330 million cubic feet while the Zawtika Project offers 64 million for domestic use and exports 279 million cubic feet.
Source: www.nationmultimedia.com (Myanmar Eleven, Asia News Network- Oct 28, 2014)