24 May 2017
TPN mulls pipeline via Laos to China
credit : http://www.bangkokpost.com
24 May 2017 at 04:00
Thai Pipeline Network Co (TPN), a wholly-owned subsidiary of SC Group, is expected to conduct a feasibility study on an oil pipeline to China's southern region via landlocked Laos.
Managing director Nataphong Ratanasuwanthawee said the feasibility study will start by the third quarter of this year to see whether it is worth investing in the extension project. Under the previous plan, the pipeline was to be built from Saraburi to Khon Kaen.
Construction of the initial, domestic project is set to begin in 2019, with operations to begin in 2022, he said.
Mr Nataphong said demand for oil in Laos and the southern region China is growing substantially every year, and TPN is interested in extending the existing oil pipeline to capitalise on that demand.
Fuel export volume to Laos is estimated to triple to 6 billion litres within a decade, from 1.9 billion last year. Some fuel is already being re-exported to the south of China.
TPN yesterday signed a memorandum of understanding with Thai petroleum Pipeline Co (Thappline) on a potential project to build a depot in Ban Phai district, Khon Kaen, which would be connected to Thappline's oil depot in Saraburi via a new pipeline.
An environmental impact assessment is being conducted for the 12-billion-baht pipeline project.
The project is expected to reduce transportation costs between the regions, as trucks use 9.6 million litres of oil annually to deliver oil shipments.
Overall, the project, financed by Bangkok Bank, is forecast to help reserve 2.28 billion litres of fuel per year.
According to a study by the Department of Energy Business, the project is the second phase of a nationwide oil pipeline network, which was approved by the government in 1991.
The first phase of the network started from oil refineries on the Eastern Seaboard, running to Saraburi and Ayutthaya via Bangkok as well as Don Mueang and Suvarnabhumi airports. That phase, running 460 kilometres in total, is operated by Fuel Pipeline Transportation Co and Thappline.
MENU
MENU
