‘Gas is essential but must be cleaner’

At the AIEN International Energy Summit, Montri Rawanchaikul, CEO, PTTEP, delivered one of the keynote speeches on how to tread the fine line between exploring traditional energy and diversification.

‘We are living in a difficult time. The industry has been around for 100 years, but the current impact of energy security means a lot to us all in terms of quality of life. We need to work to keep the lights on. Energy today isn’t just oil and gas. It is a balancing act between exploration and diversification. We also need to balance security and climate change. We need a regular supply, but also need to think about emissions.

‘To think about changing the energy system overnight – for example, jumping straight to nuclear – is too much. Even hydrogen has three big problems – cost, infrastructure and the market. Who is actually buying it? And can we rely on renewables?

‘We need to transition to a new form of energy, but in the meantime, the fuel bridging the gap between the act of exploration and diversification is gas, and it will remain so until this new form of energy is found.

‘Today, in Thailand, we all rely on the gas supply. I believe in gas, but it is still responsible for carbon emissions. Gas is essential but must be cleaner, and CCS is the key. Thailand has net zero targets for 2065 and CSS will play a big role in this.

‘However, there are four things standing in the way:

• Cost, but this can be manageable.
• Economics – scaling up will depend on incentives. It will never be affordable if there are no incentives.
• Liabilities – when you put it back in the ground, what is the liability? What monitoring is in place and how do we standardize this?
• Regulatory framework

‘Diversification will be one of the solutions of the trilemma. But this won’t happen until we see a new form of energy that is affordable.’

About AIEN: 

The Association of International Energy Negotiators, formerly Association of International Petroleum Negotiators, is an independent not-for-profit professional membership association that supports international energy negotiators around the world enhancing their effectiveness and professionalism in the international energy community. Founded in 1981, AIEN has roughly 2,800 members in more than 110 countries, representing international and national energy companies, governments, law firms and academic institutions.

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