Oleh/By : DATO' SERI DR. MAHATHIR BIN MOHAMAD
Tempat/Venue : THE PUTRA WORLD TRADE CENTRE,
KUALA LUMPUR
Tarikh/Date : 18/10/88
Tajuk/Title : THE OPENING OF GASTECH
Mr. Brian Singleton,
Conference Director of GASTECH '88;
Tan Sri Basir Ismail,
Chairman of PETRONAS;
Excellencies;
Distinguished guests;
Ladies and Gentlemen.
I would like to thank the organisers for choosing Kuala
Lumpur as the venue for their l3th International LNG/LPG
Conference and Exhibition. This is the first time since
its inception in 1972 that the GASTECH Conference and
Exhibition is being held outside of Europe. It is most
gratifying and an honour for Malaysia to be the first
non-European host to GASTECH. This distinguished gathering
has placed Malaysia on the map of the natural gas world. To
all GASTECH delegates, I bid welcome to Malaysia, and while
you are here, I hope you will take time off to see our
country and enjoy the warm hospitality of our people.
2. We are looking forward to the opportunities that GASTECH
will bring, not only to Malaysia but also to the countries
in the region. This international focus on gas will
certainly create greater awareness of the role natural gas
is playing in the international energy scenario, which until
now has been dominated by oil and coal. The world is, I
believe, making an important energy transition and we are on
the threshold of an international gas era. Although natural
gas may be versatile and have certain advantages over oil
and coal, some technical constraints make it less
transportable than traditional fuels. The international gas
community will have to devote greater R&D effort in natural
gas development and utilisation technology. As a gas
producer, Malaysia looks forward to some technological
breakthroughs in this field.
3. Natural gas as an energy source is something that we in
Malaysia are only just beginning to exploit. We are luckily
one of the gas-rich nations. To harness, develop and utilise
this resource for domestic benefit and for export, is a
major challenge for us. As such, we have certain
expectations from this Conference and Exhibition. We hope
GASTECH will bring us in closer contact with the
developments in the exploitation and utilisation of natural
gas.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
4. The rapid development and utilisation of natural gas
gained momentum only in recent years, fuelled by high prices
for petroleum as an energy source. But apart from the
ready availability of gas in many countries and the
consequent price advantage, gas is also a clean fuel. In
these days of concern for the environment, this clean fuel
is very much desired. Additionally gas is the raw material
for innumerable products. We suspect that we have not yet
exploited the full potential of gas as feedstock for a whole
range of synthetic material. Search for gas has resulted in
the discovery of massive reserves amounting to some 3,800
trillion cubic feet which is almost equal to total oil
reserves in energy equivalent terms. Although much of these
reserves remain undeveloped, natural gas has been steadily
increasing its share of the world energy mix. We have seen
a rise in world gas production, marketed production and
international gas trade. Currently, I believe, gas accounts
for about 20% of the commercial fuels used around the world,
compared with oil's share at 38% and coal's at 30%. This
reflects not only the increasing role assumed by natural gas
in supplying energy, throughout the world but also the
technological advances in the handling of this volatile and
explosive naturally occuring product.
5. Natural gas is becoming significant in the Far East
economies too, although less dramatically than for other
regions. Over the past five years, Australia, India and
Indonesia have doubled their gas reserves. Natural gas
production has increased notably in Australia, Brunei
Darussalam, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, New Zealand and
Thailand.
6. The region has also established some records in terms
of usage of gas. Japan has become the world's largest
importer of LNG, consuming about 75% of the total volume of
LNG traded, while Indonesia has become the world's largest
LNG exporter. Thailand still holds the record of having the
world's longest submarine gas pipelines transporting natural
gas from the Gulf of Thailand to power stations and
industries in and around Bangkok.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
7. Malaysia has also taken the first steps into the gas
era. The discoveries of commercial quantities of natural
gas in the 1970s, our desire to reduce dependence on oil,
and our need to minimise the flaring of associated gas have
prompted us to accelerate the development of our natural gas
resources. We have substantial reserves of natural gas
still largely undeveloped. We are in a gas-rich geological
province, and the potential discoveries are higher for gas
than for oil. Today, our recoverable reserves including
both associated and non-associated gas amount to about 52
TCF or the equivalent of 9.8 billion barrels of oil -- which
is more than three times our oil reserves. Malaysia ranks
l5th among countries in terms of size of reserves.
8. Natural gas is gaining importance in our economy as an
energy resource and foreign exchange earner. And its role
will continue to grow. Last year, the share of natural gas
of the total energy consumption was 58,000 barrels of oil
equivalent or 18%. We expect that by 1990 the share will
increase to 27%, and by the year 2000, to 40%. The growth is
expected to accelerate after 1991 with the completion of
Stage II of the Peninsular Gas Utilisation Project, which
will bring gas to the more densely populated industrialised
areas on the West Coast. It is projected that gas
consumption will increase in all sectors with the power and
industrial sectors leading. By the year 2000, gas will
dominate the power sector and some industries, and Liquefied
Petroleum Gas and Compressed Natural Gas are expected to
make some inroads into the transport sector. Piped gas or
piped LPG will be a familiar feature in urban households.
This is the likely energy scenario in the future.
9. Currently, the demand for electricity is about 17
gigawatts per hour which represents 24% of Malaysia's energy
consumption. About 58% of our electricity is generated
from oil with only 15% from gas. Our National Electricity
Board envisages that by 1992, the electricity generated from
gas will increase to 64%, with oil's share reduced to a mere
1%. Coal will contribute 20%, and hydro, 15%. Once the gas
distribution trunk line is in place, opportunities will open
for industrial, household and commercial sectors to exploit
the potentials of natural gas.
10. On the export front, natural gas development has borne
fruit. As you are no doubt aware, we are a producer of
Liquefied Natural Gas or LNG. Our major foreign exchange
earnings from gas come from the export of LNG -- from US$330
million in 1983, revenues generated from LNG reached US$996
million last year. Although we are pleased with the success
of our plant, and with our LNG market in Japan, the
declining prices and our dependence on two customers are two
matters of concern to us. As such, we would like to see the
LNG price stabilising somewhat, and we are also looking into
developing new markets.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
11. The PGU II project will provide Malaysia with further
opportunities to export gas. We have recently reached
agreement with Singapore on the purchase of Malaysian
natural gas. This is a new arena of the gas trade which we
will be entering. It is the beginning of gas export via
pipeline in the Asia-Pacific region. We will be exploring
the possibility of cooperation with Thailand in a similar
way, and to negotiate with our northern neighbour to supply
natural gas to the power stations they will be building in
southern Thailand.
12. Natural gas provides an excellent resource base for a
domestic petrochemicals industry. With the completion of
the PGU II project, feedstock for petrochemicals in the form
of ethane, propane and butane will be available in
sufficient quantities. PETRONAS, our national petroleum
corporation, will be producing MTBE and polypropylene from
propane and butane.
13. Malaysia's other petrochemicals venture will probably
be a world-scale ethane cracker to produce ethylene and
polyethylene for use by the downstream domestic plastics
industry and for export. We hope that when locally-produced
polyethylene becomes available, domestic plastics
manufacturing will develop into a vigorous and dynamic
industry.
14. As you can see, Malaysia is poised to become a
full-fledged gas player: an exporter and domestic consumer.
This GASTECH Conference and Exhibition has come about at a
most opportune time. The international gas community will
be able to see for itself the developments that are taking
place here. Hopefully, they will see opportunities for
themselves, and at the same time contribute to increasing
the reservoir of knowledge and expertise in the industry.
We in Malaysia will have the first-hand opportunity to learn
more about the gas industry, especially from those of you
who have had a headstart in this business.
15. As a producer of natural gas we are looking for
advances in new technologies, which would help reduce the
cost of development and extraction, and the cost of
distribution and transportation. R&D and interaction among
countries, both producer and consumer, will hopefully result
in the required technological breakthroughs.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
16. Having decided on natural gas as a desirable
alternative energy source, we are now in the process of
developing appropriate strategies to create awareness of the
potential of gas and to provide the infrastructure for
increased utilisation of gas. We will be working closely
with the various industries, to determine what role gas can
play in their various processes and production techniques.
In this there will be opportunities for the private sector
to participate and embark on new areas of business and
manufacturing.
17. The development of natural gas has brought us into a
new energy era. We hope it will provide Malaysian industries
and manufacturers with the competitive edge they need to
succeed, both locally and internationally.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
18. Finally, I would like to wish all of you a pleasant
stay in Malaysia and a fruitful conference. Now it is with
much pleasure that I declare this GASTECH '88 Conference and
Exhibition open.
|
|