Shell Sells ‘BG Group’ Assets to ‘KUFPEC Thailand Holdings’
The deal of Bangkot and UK North Sea fields would help in
raising capital and continued LNG operation in Thailand.
Thailand: Shell has agreed to sell its
subsidiaries, Thai Energy and Shell Integrated Gas Thailand, which were
acquired during BG Group acquisition to KUFPEC Thailand Holdings, a subsidiary
of Kuwait Foreign Petroleum Exploration Company. The two subsidiaries comprise
of 22.22% equity stake in the Bangkot field. The company sold its assets at
USD900 million, which was a part of the divestment program of raising USD30
billion to minimize the debt that reached around USD80 billion in previous year.
Shell has also decided to sell its assets in UK North Sea to Chrysaor for an
amount of USD3.8 billion.
TechSci Research depicts that this
deal will drive the production and consumption of LNG in the country more
rapidly, thereby boosting the demand for LNG market in Thailand. Moreover, the growing
demand for electricity, declining domestic production of natural gas coupled
with rising utilization of natural gas as feedstocks for petrochemical plants,
is boosting demand for LNG in Thailand. Expansion of existing LNG terminals,
installation of FSRU (Floating Storage Regasification Unit) and growing demand
for natural gas as an alternate fuel are major factors anticipated to
positively influence the LNG market in Thailand over next ten years.
According to recently published report
of TechSci Research, “Thailand LNG Market, By Region, By Application, By
LNG Terminal, Competition Forecast and Opportunities, 2011-2025”, LNG market in Thailand is projected to exhibit a CAGR of 7.2%
during 2016 - 2025. The country mainly imports LNG from Qatar, Australia and
Indonesia. Bangkok dominated Thailand LNG market over the past few years, on
account of high population density, rising number of industrial units and
presence of gas based power plants in this region. Moreover, power sector
accounted for highest market share in Thailand LNG market over the past few
years, owing to decline in production of natural gas and rising dependence on
LNG for power generation.