The joint committee working on the 21st bidding round for petroleum exploration and production concessions yesterday resolved to form three panels to study and resolve disputes over the planned bids.
Each panel will consist of 10 members as proposed by the civic groups fighting for changes to the government's energy policies.
The first panel will be responsible for revising petroleum resources management, the structure and prices of natural gas and oil, and the government's oil fund policies.
This panel will also take on resolving conflicts of interest in the country's energy management so the public interest becomes a higher priority in energy allocation. The petrochemical industry has always received top priority while members of the public are forced to pay a higher price for imported energy such as Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG).
The second panel will consider amending three laws the committee has agreed should be altered. They are the 1971 Petroleum Act, the 1971 Petroleum Tax Act, and the law on energy and conflicts of interest.
The third panel will review petroleum resources management and its impact on the environment, human rights, and community health.
It was agreed at yesterday's meeting that the best course of action in this case should be that the public and government resolve their disputes through dialogue. The committee's public representatives proposed that key topics to be discussed should include exploration, production, and allocation of energy.
The impact of the energy policies on the environment, public health, community rights and energy concessions due to expire in 2022 are also seen as the more important areas to be discussed between the two sides. The issue of overlapping marine areas in the Gulf of Thailand is also proposed for the dialogue.
Former foreign minister Prasong Soonsiri said yesterday's meeting went very well as all sides worked hard to find solutions to the disputes.
He said he hoped the proposals approved at the meeting yesterday will be forwarded to Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha for his final approval soon.
Meanwhile, a seminar was held at Chulalongkorn University yesterday to discuss the pros and cons of the concession system and production-sharing contracts.
Thitisak Boonpramote, head of the Department of Mining and Petroleum Engineering at Chulalongkorn University’s faculty of engineering, said the current petroleum concession was acceptable, adding that more flexible regulations on crude oil exploration and production must be introduced to attract foreign investment.
He explained that the state could now gain around 70% of income based on the petroleum company’s revenues as a result of tax benefits of the concession contracts. To get more benefits, the concession can add an extra charge if the company finds large amounts of crude oil.
The department head also suggested establishing a state enterprise to work on the granting of petroleum concessions to bidding companies instead of the Department of Mineral Fuels, which currently handles the grants.
The organisation could work closely with the companies granted concessions and also check on explorations and oil production output, he added.
Lecturer Jirawat Cheworoungroaj said production-sharing contracts for petroleum exploration might not work for smaller-scale petroleum sources, from which the country gets most of its petroleum.
He said if the government uses the production-sharing system for all sites, it might lose the chance to develop gas and crude oil in the country as the profits are not high enough to lure investment.