PTT, Thailand's top energy firm, said on Tuesday it was cautiously looking for assets overseas as part of a plan to boost growth and bolster its presence in international markets. State-controlled PTT, which has looked at about 70 projects as targets for acquisitions, expected international investments to generate about 20 percent of group revenue by 2020, Chief Financial Officer Tevin Vongvanick told Reuters.
"With improving sentiment in global financial markets, it may be more difficult to get a deal," Tevin said, meaning that companies may no longer be forced to sell assets cheaply if they needed funds. "But we don't know if the recovery is sustainable, so we are still looking for chances to buy assets in both upstream and downstream businesses," Tevin said.
PTT planned to invest 240 billion baht ($7 billion) over the next five years. It reviewed its investments after the global economic crisis hit energy demand, prompting it to delay some projects. The latest deal was in April when PTT spent $335 million to buy part of Australian miner Straits Resources' coal and salt assets. The deal marked PTT group's first foray into the coal business and its second investment in Australia.
PTT planned to raise coal output to 20 million tonnes a year in the next four to five years from 8-9 million now. "We want to expand our coal business. We are looking to buy more coal assets in Indonesia and Australia and the investment could be done via PTT or our subsidiaries," Tevin said.
The gas and upstream exploration businesses have shown signs of recovery, but the refinery and petrochemical businesses might not have hit bottom as new capacity could hit margins," he said. PTT runs Thailand's gas pipeline monopoly and controls more than 30 petroleum, gas exploration, petrochemical and refinery businesses.
The company is studying plans to consolidate its petrochemical and refinery affiliates, a key growth driver, and Tevin expected a decision in the fourth quarter. The plan is expected to involve four companies, PTT Chemical, PTT Aromatics and Refinery, Thai Oil and IRPC.
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