Bangkok – PTT PCL PTT.BK, Thailand’s top energy firm, said on Friday that operations at the Yetagun gas field in Myanmar would be stopped for maintenance for 20 days from Dec. 22 as part its annual maintenance plan. The shutdown at Yetagun — also called Yetakun — would not affect Thailand’s gas consumption or power production plans, the state-controlled energy firm said in a statement.

“We have prepared for gas fields from the Gulf of Thailand to run fully and arranged for a certain amount of oil reserves, which should mean there will be no effect on natural gas users in the industrial and transport sectors,” the statement said.

PTT Exploration and Production PTTE.BK, a subsidiary of PTT, operates five blocks in Myanmar and is a minority partner in the Yetagun and Yadana gas developments.

Myanmar natural gas accounts for about 30 percent of Thailand’s consumption, mostly in power generation. About 1.1 billion cubic feet per day of gas from the Yetagun and nearby Yadana fields is exported to Thailand.

PTTEP’s subsidiary also owns 100 percent of offshore block M9, which is sill under exploration in the Gulf of Martaban, south of Yangon, Myanmar’s main city.

The Thai government has said it planned to import natural gas from M9 from late 2013. (Reporting by Khettiya Jittapong; Editing by Alan Raybould)