Update and clarification on the gathering of a group of unpaid subcontractor workers of the Unincorporated Joint Venture of Petrofac South East Asia Pte. Ltd. (Petrofac), Saipem Singapore Pte. Ltd. (Saipem) and Samsung E&A (Thailand) Co., Ltd. (formerly, Samsung Engineering (Thailand) Co., Ltd.) along Sukhumvit Road, in front of Thai Oil’s Refinery in Si Racha District, Chonburi Province
Following the continuous gathering of workers along Sukhumvit Road in front of Thai Oil’s Refinery in Si Racha District, Chonburi Province from 24 – 26 July 2024, and again on 30 – 31 July 2024 due to non-payment from contractors, an inquiry by Thai Oil Public Company Limited (the “Company”) revealed that the workers are employees of One Turn Ten Company Limited (“One Turn Ten”), EMCO LTD (Thailand) Company Limited (“EMCO”), and Thai Fong Engineering and Construction Company Limited (“Thai Fong”). These three companies are subcontractors of Sinopec Engineering Group (Thailand) Co., Ltd. (“Sinopec”), which in turn is a subcontractor of the Unincorporated Joint Venture of Petrofac South East Asia Pte. Ltd. (“Petrofac”), Saipem Singapore Pte. Ltd. (“Saipem”), and Samsung E&A (Thailand) Co., Ltd. (formerly Samsung Engineering (Thailand) Co., Ltd.) (“Samsung”) (collectively, the “UJV”). The UJV is the main contractor for the construction of the Clean Fuel Project (CFP) for the Company, and the workers have gathered to demand payment for their services from the three companies (One Turn Ten, EMCO, Thai Fong), as well as from Sinopec and UJV. The three companies did not receive payment from Sinopec, and Sinopec itself has not received payment as per the relevant subcontract from the UJV, leading to Sinopec’s inability to pay the subcontractors, including the aforementioned three companies.
The Company is aware of the difficulties faced by the workers and has coordinated for ongoing discussions among workers' representatives from the subcontractors, relevant government agencies, subcontractors' representatives and the UJV representatives to reach an agreement to remedy the difficulties faced by the workers as soon as possible.
Further to a press release from the Department of Labour Protection and Welfare on 30 July 2024 and reports from various media outlets where it was stated that the Company participated in the negotiation meeting between Sinopec, the UJV, employers of the workers, government representatives and workers’ representatives and that the Company agreed to prepare a sum of THB 567 million for payments to the workers gathering along Sukhumvit Road in front of Thai Oil’s Refinery within this August. The Company would like to clarify that the Company did not agree to prepare a sum of THB 567 million to pay the workers as reported. The gathering was held because the workers were not paid by the subcontractors and the UJV as scheduled. The legal obligations to pay the outstanding payment to the workers and ensure that these workers return to work as normal lies with the relevant subcontractors and the UJV. Moreover, the Company has duly paid the UJV in accordance with the terms of the Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) contract.
In any event, the Company has taken measures to maintain security at the Thai Oil Refinery with personnel in place and is cooperating with government agencies to prepare emergency plans and deploy personnel for 24-hour surveillance, strictly controlling entry and exit to ensure the gathering remains orderly, safe, and minimises the impact on the surrounding community.