PTT Exploration and Production Public Company Limited (PTTEP), Thailand's petroleum giant, has announced it could begin to produce natural gas to serve domestic demand from the gas source, named Greater Bongkot South (GBS), by 2010, the state-run Thai News Agency reported Tuesday.

The company has explored and successfully discovered abundant natural gas from the gas well and will begin to construct a gas rig to develop the well in July, according to a PTTEP source.

The major local gas source is located in the Gulf of Thailand, about 225 kilometers off shore in Nakhon Si Thammarat Province.

PTT is also expanding its petroleum exploration overseas, particularly in Oman, to help boost national energy security amid continued global oil price hikes.

Source: Xinhua