Gas Field Development in Thai-Malaysian Waters Goes Ahead.

Byline: Boonsong Kositchotethana

Sep. 6--The development of the first gas field in the once disputed Thai-Malaysian waters is moving into top gear in spite of uncertainties about whether the offshore gas will be piped to Thailand or Malaysia.

Nevertheless, Carigali-Triton Operating Co (CTOC), a joint venture of the Malaysian state oil firm Petronas and US-based Triton Energy Corp, has postponed production from the Cakerawala field by a few months from the original mid-2002 schedule as advised by the gas buyers -- Petronas and the Petroleum Authority of Thailand (PTT).

The delay is in anticipation that the Thai government would be able to decide whether the planned trans-Thailand-Malaysia pipeline could be laid through southern Thailand.

Last April, Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra assured his Malaysian counterpart Mahathir Mohamad that he would push ahead with the construction of the pipeline.

However, scepticism remains about the Thai government's ability to quell the strong local opposition to laying the pipeline to Songkhla because of environmental concerns.

CTOC executives are undeterred and continue to stick to their plan to put the field online "no earlier than the fourth quarter of 2002", according to one executive.