Prolonged Thai-Cambodian talks lead to huge shortage of natural gas

5-6-2012
Plastermart.com

As per a report from the Department of Mineral Fuels, the amount of natural gas from fields located in the offshore Gulf of Thailand area would slowly decline over the next 12 to 18 months. This means that the country's petrochemical industry, which has been relying heavily on raw materials made from natural gas, will face a major shortage in their manufacturing process. As per The Nation, Thai energy minister has urged PTT to urgently prepare for new challenges as talks about overlapping territorial claims between Thailand and Cambodia have been prolonged causing a huge shortage of natural gas and its by-products. Should the issue get settled in the next year or two, then it would take another 10 years before Thailand can start drilling for natural gas in the area. He said the petrochemical industry would need to make adjustments to deal with the situation when there is a low supply of natural gas.

PAD spokesman urged Thai govt to put up a fight against Cambodia's offshore petroleum claim

Sondhi: Says PM is ‘acting like a child’

Sondhi calls on PM to sack Patcharawat

PM accused of being 'weak and immature'

30/07/2009
By MANOP THIP-OSOD AND THANIDA TANSUBHAPOL
Bangkok Post

Sondhi Limthongkul has taken Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva to task for failing to dismiss national police chief Patcharawat Wongsuwon.

Mr Sondhi's People's Alliance for Democracy blames Pol Gen Patcharawat for the slow progress in the investigation into the attempted murder of Mr Sondhi on April 17.

Mr Sondhi yesterday told reporters that if the police could not arrest a suspect in the attempted murder of a person of his profile, the nation might be in trouble.

He said Mr Abhisit and other people in important positions could also become assassination targets.

The PAD leader criticised Mr Abhisit for lacking the maturity of a leader by failing to remove Pol Gen Patcharawat as police chief.

If the prime minister decided not to transfer Pol Gen Patcharawat to strike a compromise with the military and political groups, the decision would probably backfire on his future, Mr Sondhi said.

"Mr Abhisit acts like a child who has no leadership at all," he said.

Mr Sondhi also questioned why Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban, who supervises national security, did not support the removal of Pol Gen Patcharawat.

He said Mr Suthep knew well that police had remained idle while red shirt demonstrators stormed the venue of the the Asean summit in Pattaya in April, forcing its postponement.

Mr Sondhi said the team assigned to kill him in Bangkok consisted of 13 officers from the special operations unit Task Force 90 in Lop Buri and one policeman.

The murder attempt was a collaboration between the military and the Department of Special Investigation, he alleged.

PAD coordinator Suriyasai Katasila said his group feared the Sondhi case was being deliberately delayed while scapegoats were being sought.

The alliance believed the investigation was being manipulated.

He said the PAD had hoped Mr Abhisit would help remove obstacles in the investigation.

But it could well turn out Mr Suthep himself was the obstacle, he said.

PAD spokesman Panthep Puapongpan yesterday also urged the government to put up a fight against Cambodia's attempt to claim petroleum deposits worth 4 trillion baht in the Gulf of Thailand near Koh Kud in Trat province.

He said Cambodia based its claim on a map attached to a joint communique signed by convicted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra with Phnom Penh on June 19, 2001.

The PAD found that instead of the entire deposits belonging to Thailand, they have now become part of an overlapping territory which Cambodia could claim.

Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya yesterday defended Mr Suthep's role in the Thai-Cambodian Joint Technical Committee on Maritime.

He said Mr Suthep had what it takes to defend the national interest.

Oil-rich gulf waters to be negotiated [between Cambodia and Thailand]

Wednesday April 02, 2008
YUTHANA PRAIWAN
Bangkok Post

Thailand expects to start negotiations with Cambodia on April 21 in Bangkok on offshore petroleum fields in the disputed waters in the Gulf of Thailand, according to Songpop Polachan, deputy director-general of the Department of Mineral Fuels.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs would host the first official negotiations between the two countries in the hope of reaching a conclusion over the controversial area, which covers 26,000 square kilometres.

Mr Songpop said that the Thai government was prepared to propose to Cambodia a model based on the successful Malaysia Thailand Joint Development Area and the Timor Gap Australia-Indonesia Co-operation pact.

Exploration began 30 years ago in the disputed Thai-Cambodian waters, also called the Khmer Basin. Despite the lack of concrete reports on reserves, both countries have sought to tap the overlapping area for potential undersea oil and natural gas potential.

At a time of skyrocketing global oil prices, an area potentially rich with resources proves even more valuable to both countries, which are eager to overcome the dispute and move ahead with their plans.

The two countries have not engaged in any serious talks about the offshore area for the past decade.

Cambodian officials said recently that their unofficial talks in 2006 on the issue had failed to result in a formal round because Thailand needed a larger share over the area than the 50-50 proposed by Cambodia.Thailand is currently focusing on seeking to secure as many energy sources from its neighbours as possible in order to meet its projected growth demand in the near future.

Thailand's combined crude and condensate production in local petroleum fields hit a record high in excess of 200,000 barrels per day last week, Mr Songpop added.

The additional output mainly came from the onshore Na Sanoon field in Phetchabun, operated by Pan Orient Resources Ltd, which helped boost the production to 10,000 barrels a day from 1,500 barrels. The total production was expected to double this year to catch up with the demand growth.

The department also expects PTT Exploration and Production (PTTEP)'s Nang Nual offshore field to be ready to resume crude production this year after being suspended in mid-2006 due to technical errors.

The Nang Nual block was producing 18,000 barrels of crude per day before the suspension.

During the term of the former military-backed government, the Energy Ministry had made all-out efforts to seek crude and natural gas reserves locally to lessen the country's dependence on imported oil.

Last year, Thailand imported crude supplies equivalent to about 808,000 barrels, worth 703 billion baht.

Who's who and who owns what in Cambodia offshore oil

Chevron given 10-year extension off Thailand's coast [-Cambodia and Thailand have oil disputing claims going back to 1972]

Monday, October 29, 2007
East Bay Business Times

Chevron Corp. has received a 10-year extension for natural gas production in the Gulf of Thailand.

San Ramon-based Chevron (NYSE: CVX) has interests ranging from 60 percent to 80 percent on former Unocal leases in the center of the gulf bounded by Thailand on the north and west and Cambodia and Vietnam on the east. The leases from the Thai government expired in 2012 and have now been extended to 2022.

Chevron, which bought El Segundo-based Unocal in 2005, hopes to eventually boost natural gas production from these leases to 1 billion cubic feet per day.

David O'Reilly, Chevron's chairman and CEO, traveled to Bangkok for a ceremony surrounding the deal.

Chevron shares the leases with Mitsui Oil Exploration Co. and PTT Exploration and Production Public Co. Along with its venture partners, Chevron, which has about 180 platforms in the gulf, has paid about $3.5 billion in royalties to Thailand since 1981.

These leases -- for blocks 10, 11, 12 and 13 in areas named Erawan, Satun, Funan, Banpot, Plamuk, Yala, Pla Daeng and Platong -- are along a rough north-south line to the west of another area where Cambodia and Thailand have disputing claims going back to 1972.