New bidding for petroleum concessions in mid-2016
-THAILAND is expected to kick off its long-delayed 21st bidding round for petroleum concessions around the middle of next year, Energy Minister General Anantaporn Kanjanarat said yesterday.
The drafts of amended petroleum laws have been submitted to the Cabinet's secretariat office and the Cabinet could consider them tomorrow or next Tuesday, he said.
The new laws will allow the energy authorities to consider using either concessions or production-sharing-contract (PSC) regimes, or both systems, to govern petroleum exploration and production activities, whereas the current laws only allow the concession system.
The 21st round of petroleum-concession bidding, the first since 2007, was cancelled last year because of opposition from some energy activists and non-governmental organisations who urged the adoption of the PSC regime, among many other things.
Of the 29 blocks up for auction, six are offshore in the Gulf of Thailand, and 23 are on land, mostly in the Northeast.
- Regarding the expiring petroleum concessions, Anantaporn said his ministry might be able to finalise guidelines to solve the contentious issue by the end of next month.
A senior energy official told The Nation that the best possible solution was to extend the concessions to the existing operators, which would require an amendment of relevant petroleum laws.
Benefits for the state
"But to attain more benefits for the state, the government should also acquire more shares in these offshore petroleum fields. By which agency or on which method, that has to be decided. The Ministry of Finance, for instance, could represent the state to take shares in the field, as it has done with Esso (Thailand)," said the source, who asked not to be named.
PTT Exploration and Production and Chevron hold petroleum contracts that are due to expire from 2022-2023, which together account for more than 65 per cent of Thailand's petroleum production at present.