Thailand's natural gas use hits peak as electricity demand rises

BANGKOK May 8 (Reuters) - Thailand's natural gas
consumption reached a new daily peak of 5,953 million cubic feet
per day on Thursday, in line with higher demand for electricity,
a senior official at Thai energy ministry said.

Thailand, which uses natural gas for almost 60 percent of
its power generation, a quarter of it imported from Myanmar, is
trying to ensure it has enough to meet rising demand, Twarath
Sutabutr, deputy permanent secretary at the ministry, told
reporters.

"We have sufficient supply right now because we have long
planned to buy natural gas from both domestic and overseas
sources. But we are looking for long-term plans as gas in the
Gulf of Thailand is reducing," Twarath said.

In 2014, Thailand used 4,669 mmcfd, up 2.2 percent on year,
according to the ministry's data.

Demand for electricity in Thailand hit a peak of 27,198
megawatts at one point on Thursday due to rising temperatures,
according to state-owned power producer Electricity Generating
Authority of Thailand.

State-owned PTT PCL, the country's sole gas
supplier, has projected natural gas consumption to rise an
average 3.1 percent a year until 2019.

(Reporting by Khettiya Jittapong; Editing by Nick Macfie)

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