PTT actively invests in ASEAN

BANGKOK, August 5 (TNA) - PTT Public Company Limited (PTT), Thailand's largest petroleum firm, has had its subsidiaries to expand their investment projects in other member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in the lead-up to the formation of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) by the end of 2015. A PTT board member, Prasert Bunsumpum, and Chairman of PTT Global Chemical Public Company (PTTGC)'s board, told journalists of the policy on Tuesday. For Indonesia, Prasert said, PTTGC has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Pertamina, Indonesia's state-owned oil and natural gas corporation, to invest 4.5 billion US dollars in refineries and petrochemical production to mainly serve demand in Indonesia, whose total population stand over 200 million now. Prasert revealed that PTTGC plans to boost its refining capacity to 200,000-300,000 barrels per day in Indonesia. Regarding business operators in Rayong Province in the Thai East who filed a case with a local court late last month, demanding compensation of 1 billion baht for PTTGC's oil leak there, Prasert insisted, meanwhile, that the company will respect the court's verdict and will not deny responsibility, acknowledging that the company has rehabilitated the environment in the area and already given compensation to more than 10,000 affected people so far. As a newly-appointed member of the National Legislative Assembly (NLA), Prasert noted that he plans to raise misunderstandings about energy issues for discussions at the NLA. (TNA)