Thailand’s state-owned oil major PTT will separate and sell its coal mining business in Indonesia and focus more on clean and environmentally friendly technologies, as reported by S&P Global on April 2. PTT made the decision because it witnessed the revenue decline in its coal business and is facing increased pressure from decarbonization. However, market participants pointed out that the move aims at concentrated force in PTT’s coal, oil and natural gas business. According to the state-owned company, it plans to expand its business in new areas like renewables, energy storage, and the electric vehicle (EV) value chain. Notably, the coal business only makes up around 1% of PTT’s 2021 revenue.

Last September, PTT announced that it would invest more than USD16bn over the next ten years in initiatives to promote EVs and other green technologies, as part of Thailand’s goal of turning the country into a regional hub of EVs in Southeast Asia by 2030. Moreover, the company committed to allocating 32% of groupwide investments to new decarbonization businesses through 2030. In January 2022, PTT entered a partnership with Taiwan’s Hon Hai Precision Industry (Foxconn) to establish an electric car JV in Thailand. The JV will start manufacturing electric cars in 2024 with an annual capacity of 50,000 units, aiming to triple the capacity to around 150,000 units by 2030.

Source:

https://www.spglobal.com/commodity-insights/en/market-insights/videos/market-movers-europe/040422-oil-iea-us-strategic-reserves-release-energy-security-gas-uk-germany-gazprom-russia-rubles

https://asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/Environment/Climate-Change/Thai-oil-major-PTT-launches-16bn-push-into-EVs-and-green-energy

https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Automobiles/Foxconn-to-produce-EVs-with-Thai-energy-group-from-2024