Banpu Pcl, Thailand’s biggest coal producer, plans to increase its investments in US shale gas as it prepares for a New York listing of its US unit this year.
The Bangkok-based company is accelerating acquisitions in the US as it reduces its reliance on coal, Chief Executive Officer Somruedee Chaimongkol said. “There remains a huge potential for energy and natural gas business in the US that can help Banpu achieve its shift away from coal,” he said in an interview on Monday.
Thai companies from Banpu to Gulf Energy Development Pcl and PTT Global Chemical Pcl have been expanding overseas as demand and growth in Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy slows.
Banpu is in talks to acquire more power assets in Texas, where it made its first U.S. investment in 2021 with a 700-megawatt plant, Somruedee said. It will also invest in solar rooftop companies in China and renewable energy in Japan and Australia, he added. The company currently has solar plants in these regions, as well as in Vietnam.
Somruedee said in June that Banpu aims to reduce the share of revenue it generates from coal from about two-thirds now to 50 percent by 2025. The company will replace that revenue with a mix of natural gas production and power generation. ‘energy, as well as green technologies such as solar and carbon capture, he said at the time.
Banpu reaffirmed the planned listing of BKV Corp., its U.S. natural gas unit, on the New York Stock Exchange this year. Somruedee said the company is weighing the “right time,” waiting for investor sentiment to improve after natural gas price volatility. US natural gas futures have fallen more than 40% so far this year.