Fang oilfield in Chiang Mai, the oldest oilfield in Thailand, is to be redeveloped at a cost of 300 million baht, according to the Defence Energy Department's Northern Petroleum Development Centre (NPDC).
The oil refinery was expected to be upgraded to Euro5 and capable of producing lower-sulphur diesel, confirming that the oil would not damage car engines, Maj Gen Montri jeennakorn the director of the NPDC, said.
The current oil refinery could pump only high-sulphur diesel and fuel oil at a rate of 600 barrels per day, considered too small a quantity for private sector investors to take over the field.
In current conditions, accelerating the pumping process would result in quicker depletion of the crude oil.
However, the director said, the oilfield would last for another 50 years if the pumping process was managed properly.
“The oil we are producing now is meaningful to the army and it would be beneficial during a war, when there is no access for oil tankers. We cannot be sure that the oil from the private sector will be enough, and whether it fits the law or not,” he said.
Recently, the Move Forward Party asked the army to transfer the oilfield to the government, stating that oil production was not a military duty, while the Ministry of Defence was ready to transfer the field to the government but wanted to make sure it was effectively managed in the future.