BANGKOK: Thailand is in urgent need to secure long-term energy supplies as its oil and gas output is expected to drop over 70 percent in the next decade after hitting a peak of over 800,000 barrel of oil equivalent per day in 2014, consultancy Wood Mackenzie said.
At the current rate of production, Thailand's remaining reserves will be exhausted within nine years, Craig McMahon, head of Asia Pacific research for Woodmac told reporters after giving a public lecture at the Petroleum Institute of Thailand.
Thailand, which uses natural gas for almost 70 percent of its power generation, has been struggling to secure long-term supplies as growth in output and reserve replacement have not kept pace with demand.
Rajnish Goswami, senior vice president, Woodmac's head of gas and power for Asia and the Middle East said he expected gas demand in Thailand will grow an average 5-7 percent a year over the next decade depending on the country's economic growth.
Thailand's military government plans to hold a new auction round next February for concessions on 29 onshore and offshore blocks in its effort to secure energy supplies.
Current concessions expiring in 2023 account for more than 65 percent of Thailand's production.
Recent production growth has been offset by weak exploration performance.
That means Thailand has replaced less than 25 percent of the 2.3 billion barrels of oil equivalent reserves produced in the last 10 years, according to Woodmac.
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