Petroleum concession bidding extended to March 16

Petroleum concession bidding extended to March 16

Opponents to petroleum concessions – including
Opponents to petroleum concessions – including "crude" human characters – gather near Government House Monday as the government continues to insist concessions are the best way to ensure energy security. (Photos by Chanat Katanyu)

Energy regulators on Monday extended the deadline to accept petroleum exploration concession bids to March 16 from Feb 18 to buy themselves time to sway dissenters.

Energy Minister Narongchai Akrasanee said the postponement was to accommodate a public forum on the move on Friday.

He said the method suited Thailand because concessionaires paid for exploration costs and bore the risk of uncertain output in the future.

He also said the practice could begin immediately because it was already backed by legislation. National benefits from past concessions also justified the continuation of the concession approach.

The groups opposed to the 21st round of bidding suggested the government switch to the production-sharing contract (PSC) system, which they see as more flexible and beneficial to the country.

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha said on Monday the deadline was extended because the government wanted to create an understanding among all parties.

He also said the forum this Friday would likely be the last one.

If an agreement is reached then, the government will have time to proceed, Gen Prayut said.

The prime minister said the country needed to find new domestic petroleum reserves to make up for future production stoppage at existing domestic sources and smaller supplies from neighbouring countries, which increasingly needed more energy for their own use.

"Who will take responsibility if new energy sources cannot be secured in time and there's inadequate energy in the next five to 10 years?" Gen Prayut said.

He expects participants at the public forum to be reasonable.

Opponents to the 21st round of the petroleum concession bidding rallied near Government House before the National Energy Policy Council's meeting on Monday. They strongly demanded a longer delay of the bidding to allow concerned parties to study alternatives that would benefit the public the most.

The 21st round of petroleum exploration aims to cover 29 oil-and-gas reserves, of which 23 are offshore.

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