For many years, the company has been deploying its subsidiary, PTT Exploration and Production (PTTEP), to foray abroad, and already it has clinched deals to develop petroleum fields in oil-producing countries like Iran, Cambodia and Indonesia.

PTT president Prasert Bunsumpun said recently that upon the completion of its planned pipeline network - including a western corridor from Burma, a southern corridor from Indonesia and a liquefied-natural-gas (LNG) facility, as well as its continued natural-gas development - PTT would be capable of supporting Asean's entire natural-gas industry.

This will enable it to serve as part of a supply and trading hub for Asia, he told the Gastech 2006 conference in Abu Dhabi earlier this month, the world's second-largest international conference and exhibition for the LNG, liquefied-petroleum-gas and natural-gas industries. PTT will host the Gastech 2008 in Bangkok as part of its strategy to promote its name in the global energy industry.

"We want to expand our role in foreign markets further by investing there," Prasert said. "We don't want to be only the main energy importer, but also the joint investor."

He said PTT was interested in investing in the expansion of natural-gas pipeline networks in foreign markets, including the establishment of natural-gas separation and petrochemical plants, by capitalising on its know-how in Thailand.

Moreover, it is keen to join bidding to acquire natural-gas pipelines in several countries, including Indonesia and Bangladesh.

Prasert said PTT would be more aggressive in investing in foreign markets over the next five years, in accordance with its plan to double its annual revenues in the same period, from US$25 billion (Bt890 billion) now to $50 billion. If it can achieve annual revenues of $50 billion, it will reach the same business level as some of the global players, including Brazil's national oil firm, Petrobras.

He said that at present, Thailand consumed about 3 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day. Of this, 74 per cent is used to generate electricity, 9 per cent goes to the industrial sector, and 17 per cent is used in gas-separation plants.

However, the proportion will change within the next decade. The amount of natural gas used by the petrochemical sector [gas separation] is expected to be 22 per cent; transportation, 10 per cent; the industrial sector, 13 per cent; and electricity generation, only 55 per cent.

Currently, PTT's two natural-gas pipelines on the floor of the Gulf of Thailand have a combined capacity to deliver 3 billion cubic feet of gas per day. A third pipeline is being built, which in its first phase will enable PTT to meet the rising demand for natural gas, which is expected to reach 5 billion cubic feet a day soon.

As well, PTT is planning to build its sixth, seventh and eighth gas-separation plants, in order to supply the petrochemical industry. Each of the new plants will have a production capacity of 600 million cubic feet a day.

Chitrapongse Kwangsukstith, PTT's vice president in charge of natural-gas operations, predicted Thailand's demand for natural gas would reach 5 billion cubic feet a day in the next four or five years. Present demand is 3.2 billion cubic feet per day and rising.

Part of future natural-gas supplies will come from the LNG plant in the Map Ta Put Industrial Estate.

PTT is also in the process of extending small pipelines from its main 700-kilometre land-based network to supply natural gas to industries as a substitute for oil. It plans to add another 1,000 kilometres to these branch pipelines over the next five years.

It is also expected to finish construction of a pipeline network this month that will deliver natural gas from the western part of Thailand to the eastern part.

Currently, PTT's branch pipelines supply natural gas to about 300 small and medium-sized enterprises in about 20 industrial zones across the Kingdom. However, the company believes demand for natural gas from small companies in the industrial sector will soon soar from the current 200 million cubic feet a day to 400 million to 500 million cubic feet.

Chitrapongse said global trends in energy consumption saw many countries using natural gas as a substitute for costly oil. For example, China and India are among major energy-consuming countries developing natural-gas pipeline networks.

"China is likely to expand its existing west-east natural-gas network further and bring in more gas to supply its industries from neighbouring countries to the north. Its rate of coal consumption is not growing like in the past," he said, adding that India was negotiating the purchase of LNG from Middle East suppliers.