Thailand’s national oil and gas company PTT Exploration and Production (PTTEP) has inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Mahidol University, which will enable it to bolster carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology in the country. This builds on the Thai player’s other recent partnerships forged to push the development of CCS to new heights.
Under the PTTEP Subsurface University Energy Connect scheme, the company has already signed MoUs with several universities, including Chulalongkorn University, Chiang Mai University, and Khon Kaen University. In addition, the firm plans to tuck similar academic collaborations with others under its belt.
The collaboration with Mahidol University aims to carry out a research study on geoscience and petroleum engineering, develop professionals in petroleum exploration and production, and explore carbon storage sites. PTTEP sees these steps as “pivotal” to drive the CCS technology development and enable Thailand to become a low-carbon society.
The signing ceremony was held at Mahidol University Kanchanaburi Campus. The MoU was signed by Rangsan Bhengbhun , PTTEP’s Executive Vice President for Geosciences, Subsurface, and Exploration Group, and Thatchavee Leelawat , Assistant Professor, Vice President for Information Technology and Kanchanaburi Campus.
This MoU comes only weeks after PTTEP signed an agreement to participate in a study on the carbon storage potential in the Northern Gulf of Thailand with Japan’s Inpex, as part of an international collaboration between the Thai Department of Mineral Fuels (DMF) and Japan Organization for Metals and Energy Security (JOGMEC).
The Thai player is also progressing its first CCS project in Thailand at the Arthit gas field in the Gulf of Thailand. All these decarbonization moves are designed to help Thailand meet its net zero greenhouse gas emission targets by 2065.
Meanwhile, PTTEP is working on expanding its hydrocarbon resources, as confirmed by a trifecta of oil and gas discoveries offshore Malaysia in 2023.