The field is being jointly developed by the Malaysian firm and Amerada Hess Corp.
PTT Plc and Petronas will buy 390 million cu ft of natural gas a day from the A18 field as the two state-run companies [will] each buy half the field’s output.
From 2008 both compaies will increase their purchases to 790 million cu ft a day with the gas purchase contract signed for 20 years.
Both nations are sharing the cost of the exploration of gas and the building of the pipeline which is in an area overlapping their respective borders. The JV between PTT and Petronas tasked to build the pipeline and plant, Trans Thai-Malaysia Co, only began construction work last July following two years of protests from Thai villagers worried about the environmental impact of the project.
