The Prime Minister's Office is setting up a panel of government representatives and civic groups to compile information from Friday's public forum on controversial petroleum concessions and make recommendations.
The forum, held at Government House on Friday, was intended to resolve the ongoing debate over whether the government should go ahead with the 21st round of concessions, which critics say forfeit too many public resources to companies.
After the forum, Prime Minister's Office Minister ML Panadda Diskul said the panel will be composed of representatives from agencies concerned and critics. It will further discuss the pros and cons based on input from the public forum.
The panel is expected to forward its conclusions to Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha by March 16, the deadline for concession bid applications. The deadline was originally Feb 18, but the Energy Ministry extended the deadline because of the controversy.
ML Panadda added that both sides — the Energy Ministry and civic groups — agreed in the forum that Thailand's energy policy should take into account resource security and fairness.
Within this framework, he said they agreed that some regulations need to be changed to give the country more options and tools to manage its petroleum resources.
Apart from that consensus, the debate ended in stalemate, as supporters and opponents maintained their positions.
Speaking for the civic groups, Abhisit Vejjajiva, a former prime minister and Democrat Party leader, said the Petroleum Act should be amended before granting any new concessions.
“The fundamentals of the act were based on Thailand’s energy status 44 years ago when the Thai government lacked experience and know-how in petroleum exploitation. Now we have more experience, and that gives us more bargaining power [with investors]", he said.
The Petroleum Act only enables a monopoly on petroleum resources for the energy industry, he said, but it does not protect the public's right to participate in resource management.
But Energy Minister Narongchai Akrasanee rejected Mr Abhisit's calls.
"The energy law has been amended six times already, and the current version is suitable for Thailand's geology and tax regime, which is most accommodating to national interests," he said.
Former finance minister Theerachai Phuwanatnaranuban, who opposes concessions, noted that the government has no authority to intervene in the concessionaires' business, putting the state in a fragile position for energy security.
Mr Theerachai proposed the use of the Production Sharing System (PSC) instead of concessions. He said this would allow fair competition between investors, who will need to negotiate the best production-sharing rate with the government.
He questioned the government's alternative proposal of the Thailand 3 Plus scheme, saying the scheme could encourage concessionaires not to increase production to avoid higher payments to the government.
The scheme will allow the state to gain more benefits from concessions.
Apart from concession fees and taxes, the country will receive special payments from concessionaires if their production is higher than the designated ceiling.
Mr Narongchai argued that in his view the PSC method championed by opponents of the current system was no better than the concession method.
At best, it is as good as an auction. "Besides, it has not been concluded and the concessions won't be granted immediately," he said.
