Thread: Egypt : Unrest may threaten Thai oil supplies

UPRISING IN EGYPT

Unrest may threaten Thai oil supplies
Watcharopong Thongrung
Petchanet Pratruangkrai,
Sucheera Pinijparakarn,
February 4, 2011



Thailand's energy security will be at risk if political unrest in Egypt turns for the worse and spreads further into the Middle East, where three-quarters of the country's oil imports come from, a senior energy official says.

Metta Banterngsuk, the deputy permanent secretary for energy, said the country's crude-oil supplies remained safe at this stage.

"In the event that the situation in Egypt worsens, it would mostly affect oil transport via the Suez Canal. However, oil supplies to Asia, including Thailand, are shipped via the Persian Gulf, not the Suez Canal," he said.

"The latter is mainly used for transporting oil to Europe and the US. So there could be more pipeline transport in such a scenario."

Meanwhile, Thai exports to Egypt are expected to drop by 5-10 per cent this year because of the political violence, though more food shipments to neighbouring countries are expected.

Deputy Commerce Minister Alongkorn Ponlaboot said Thai exports to Egypt accounted for US$767.7 million (Bt23.7 billion) last year, just 0.4 per cent of total export value.

Paiboon Ponsuwanna, chairman of the Thai National Shippers' Association, said the impact on goods shipments remained small, as there had been no problems with shipping via the Suez Canal yet.

Exporters are hoping the situation remains under control and does not spread to other countries in the Middle East.

Chookiat Ophaswongse, honorary president of the Thai Rice Exporters Association, said exporters were monitoring developments closely.

Egypt is a rice-exporting country. If it faces shipping problems, its customers, mainly in the Middle East and Africa, may order rice from Thailand, he said.

Major Thai exports to Egypt include preserved fish, cars and parts, refrigerators, ethylene polymers, radios, televisions, rubber, machinery and copper.

Last year, exports to Egypt surged 30.75 per cent to $767.7 million.
Pornthep Jubandhu, vice president for macroeconomic analysis at SCB Economic Intelligence Centre, said oil prices were being closely monitored.

Experts on Middle Eastern affairs are concerned that the violence in Egypt is just the tip of the iceberg and could lead to a restructuring of geopolitics in the region.

Pornthep said that if there were a war in the region, the impact on the global economy would be serious. The likelihood would be that more funds would flow back to developed countries, especially in North America and the European Union.

Over recent years, some foreign funds have already left the Thai market, he said.

nationmultimedia.com

You just know that some human garbage, not necessarily Thai, is going to make a bunch of money off parasitic speculation over the Egypt incident.

BANGKOK, 4 February 2011 (NNT) – The ongoing riot in Egypt should affect only a little the Thai export sector and might be an opportunity for Thailand to export more food products, according to Deputy Commerce Minister Alongkorn Ponlaboot.

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Mr Alongkorn stated that Thailand might turn the crisis into an opportunity by exporting more food products to Egypt and its neighboring countries which should need to stock more food in case of a prolonged crisis.