UPDATE 1-Thai PTTEP hopes for Montara start-up in 2010

* Needs more time to assess damage, start-up date

* Q4 earnings seen "good" despite higher costs

* Shares rebound after hitting four-month low (Adds details)

BANGKOK, Nov 4 (Reuters) - Thailand's PTT Exploration and Production PTTE.BK (PTTEP) said on Wednesday the start-up of the Montara field in Australia might be delayed from the first quarter of 2010 to an unspecified date later in the year.

Chief Executive Anon Sirisaengtaksin told an analysts' meeting the company's financial performance would be "good" in the fourth quarter even though it had to book more expenses related to an oil spill at Montara from late August.

"We'll try to make it within 2010. We have to wait for the result of the assessment on the damage. It should become clearer next week," Anon said.

Last week Anon had said operations at Montara might start in the second quarter of next year.

A PTTEP subsidiary said on Tuesday it had stopped the oil leak and doused the main fire on the Montara and West Atlas oil rig in the Timor Sea. [ID:nSYD410182]

PTTEP shares hit a four-month low this week on concern the delay in Montara's start-up would hit its earnings in 2010, and that damage costs might exceed its insurance coverage of $270 million.

In the third quarter, PTTEP booked about $150 million in Montara-related expenses, excluding costs related to the fire, Anon said, adding it would start booking insurance claims from the fourth quarter.

On Wednesday, PTTEP shares closed up 3.5 percent at 134.50 baht, while the overall market was up 2.7 percent.

PTTEP, a subsidiary of top energy firm PTT PTT.BK, had planned to produce about 35,000 bpd from the Montara field, which would have boosted its 2009 petroleum sales to 240,000 bpd. The spill prompted PTTEP to cut its 2009 sales target by 3-5 percent, and it warned that it could miss its 2010 sales target.

The Montara field could be one of the main sources of profit for PTTEP in future. Many analysts expect higher output from new oil and gas fields to boost sales.

PTTEP owns 100 percent of the Montara field through its wholly owned Australasia, formerly known as Coogee Resources, which it acquired this year.

It is the flagship in the exploration and production business of top energy firm PTT PTT.BK and is involved in about 40 oil and gas exploration and development projects in 14 countries in the Middle East, Africa and Asia.

Anon said fourth-quarter petroleum sales were expected to be close to the 234,601 barrel of oil equivalent per day in the third quarter, while selling prices should be above the almost $40 a barrel it had in the the previous quarter. ($1 = 33.42 Baht) (Reporting by Pisit Changplayngam; Writing by Khettiya Jittapong; Editing by Alan Raybould)