Malaysia/Vietnam: Plans for Asian Gas Grid linking Southeast Asia to China and Taiwan
Gas Companies Seek Support From Apec Leaders for Asian Gas Grid
Auckland, Sept. 10 (Bloomberg) -- Companies from 21 Asia-
Pacific economies are asking heads of government to back plans
for a gas pipeline linking Southeast Asia to China and Taiwan,
said a chief executive involved in the lobbying.
The Asian Gas Grid, as the 5,000 kilometer pipeline is
known, will link the Natuna gas field in Indonesia to Vietnam,
Malaysia, Thailand and China. Construction is estimated to cost
$7.7 billion.
``The economic spin-off and the wealth creation of this
pipeline are massive,' said Francis Yeoh, speaking as chairman
of Partnership for Equitable Growth, a group of Asian businesses
pushing the pipeline.
The pipeline would benefit Indonesia, whose natural gas
would be sold to China and Taiwan. Natuna has about 222 trillion
cubic feet of gas, which means there are only about 46 trillion
cubic feet of ``usable' gas, Yeoh said. That could supply gas to
China and Taiwan for 50 years at the rate proposed by the Asian
Gas Grid.
``What we are supplying is just a small portion of the
demand,' Yeoh said on the sidelines of the Asia Pacific Economic
Cooperation meeting in Auckland. Even so, ``the potential is
enormous.'
Need Leaders Support
Yeoh is also managing director of YTL Corp., a Malaysian
company with interests spanning construction, hotels and power
generation. YTL has tried to invest in Chinese power plants.
Gas companies need the support of the Asia-Pacific leaders
as the pipeline will be laid in waters off the coast of Thailand,
Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, China and Taiwan.
``If the leaders come out with a strong support, a
feasibility study will be conducted,' Yeoh said. ``After the
feasibility study, which may take up to one or two years,
companies can begin to bid for stakes in the project.'
Earlier this month, the Asian Gas Grid plan was shown to
potential investors, including Enron Corp., Atlantic Richfield
Co. and Indonesian state-owned oil company PT Pertamina, said
Yeoh.
China is planning to start buying 3 million metric tons of
liquefied natural gas a year, starting in 2005, to provide energy
that doesn't pollute as much as the coal currently firing its
power plants.
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