Chevron Corp, the second-biggest United States oil company and operator of Cambodia’s off-shore Block A, may start producing natural gas at a new project in the Gulf of Thailand by the year-end, said Jim Blackwell, president for Asia-Pacific exploration and production.

The US$3.1 billion Platong Gas II will produce about 330 million cubic feet of gas a day, said Joseph Geagea, managing director for Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Myanmar, Bangladesh and China.

That will boost Thailand’s gas output by more than 10 percent, he said at an event in Indonesia, to announce the completion of a gas-processing platform.

In 2009, Chevron produced 794 million cubic feet of gas a day in Thailand, about 27 percent of the country’s output, according to the company’s annual report.

The Platong Gas II project has an output capacity of 420 million cubic feet a day.

“The Platong gas project will significantly increase Thailand’s gas production to meet demand in the coming years,” said Norkun Sitthiphong, permanent secretary at Thailand’s Ministry of Energy.  Cambodia’s Chevron-operated block in the Gulf is generally thought to be the Kingdom’s first chance at producing oil, with the government aiming  for production to begin in 2012.

Last year, Prime Minister Hun Sen threatened to take away Chevron’s licence if the 2012 production deadline was not met.