SINGAPORE (Standard&Poor's) May 17, 2002--Standard&Poor's today affirmed its local and foreign corporate credit ratings on Thailand's PTT Exploration and Production Public Co. Ltd. (PTTEP) at triple-'B'-plus and triple-'B'-minus, respectively. The outlook is stable. The investment-grade ratings on PTTEP reflect its strengths of a solid asset base, with a healthy 21 years reserve life; its good cost position and operating track record; and its key public policy role as one of Thailand's main providers of oil and gas to the power generation industry. The company's foreign-currency rating is constrained by that on the Kingdom of Thailand (foreign currency rating BBB-/Stable/A-3; local currency rating A-/Stable/A-2), which owns 69.3% of PTTEP's parent company. At the same time, the ratings
