Former contractors could join OCA talks with Cambodia
Ministries eye bringing in former winners of concessions to explore oil and gas resources in Gulf of Thailand to talks on OCA
Thailand’s Energy and Foreign Affairs ministries are planning to bring in companies that previously won concession contracts from the Thai government for resource exploration in the Gulf of Thailand in 1968 to the fresh round of talks with Cambodia regarding the overlapping claims area (OCA), a news source revealed on Thursday.
These companies will help plan the joint exploration and development of an offshore oil and gas field of which both Thailand and Cambodia claim ownership, the source said.
The two neighbours have been squabbling over the OCA of 27,000 square kilometres in the Gulf of Thailand since the 1970s. The OCA is estimated to contain about 10 trillion cubic feet of natural gas and 300 million barrels of crude oil.
The source said that Thai authorities are studying an MOU drawn up in 2001 between Thailand and Cambodia, in which both countries agree that territorial claims must be discussed at the same time as joint resource development.
The source cited Thailand’s Department of Mineral Fuels as saying that the authorities are considering bringing in companies that had won concession contracts from the government for resource exploration in this area in 1968 to help draw up a plan for joint resource exploration with Cambodia.
The department said the 1968 contract divided the area into six parts, each containing one to three fields, and were awarded to the following companies:
1. B5 and B6 fields, totalling 10,155 sq.km., 50% awarded to Idemitsu Oil, 20% to Chevron E&P, 10% to Chevron Blocks 5 and 6 at 10%, and 20% to Mitsui Oil Exploration
2. B7, B8 and B9 fields, totalling 10,420 sq.km., awarded to BG Asia (50%), Chevron Overseas Petroleum (33.33%,) and Petroleum Resources (16.67%)
3. B10 and B11 fields, totalling 2,785 sq.km., awarded to Chevron Thailand E&P (60%) and Mitsui Oil Exploration (40%)
4. B12 and B13 fields, totalling 890 sq.km., awarded to Chevron Thailand E&P (80%) and Mitsui Oil Exploration (20%)
5. G9/43 field, totalling 2,619 sq.km., 100% awarded to PTTEP International
6. B14 field, totalling 133 sq.km., awarded to PTTEP International (80%,) Chevron Thailand E&P (16%) and Mitsui Oil Exploration (4%)
