New round of fuel concession bids should go ahead: NRC panel

It said the ministry should also prepare for a production sharing scheme.
The NRC voted 149-44 in favour of the move, with 35 abstaining and one person refusing to vote to approve the study by energy reform and public participation panels.
The decision will be forwarded to the government for further consideration.
“The committee has resolved to choose the third choice by considering the highest benefit to the country and its people.
“It will submit the resolution to the NRC, which will forward it to the Cabinet afterward, NRC committee on energy reform chairman Thongchat Hongladaromp said.
The option chosen was one of three studied by the panel. The other two were: first, for the ministry to proceed with it current plan to open the 21st round of bidding to allow oil companies to explore for oil and gas under its Thailand 3 plus regime.
The other option was to abort the concession system in the 21st round, and replace it with a production sharing contract.
Vice chairman of the energy reform committee Kurujit Nakornthap said the 21st round of bidding was necessary because the country needs to find new fuel resources to make up for declining reserves of natural gas in existing fields as demand for energy has risen every year. Natural gas reserves would be sufficient to serve the country’s needs for only another seven years, if there is no further exploration.
He said ‘Thailand 3 plus’ was a suitable system for the country because it would collect income from explorers based on the volume of production. Benefits also include high technology transfer, employment and energy security.

‘Valuable ideas not considered’
Rosana Tositrakul, a leading member of the National Reform Council, said that the study had not taken valuable ideas from minority groups or outsiders into its consideration.
Rosana said the concession system favoured the private
sector, while individuals would shoulder more burden.
“In my personal view, I think that the 21st round of bidding for fuel concessions is related to the country’s energy reform process as petroleum energy is one of the country’s important natural resources.
Giving out a 21st round of bid concessions will tie the country to this for the next 29 to 39 years, including up to nine years of exploration,” she said.
Rosana said she agreed with the production sharing system, saying that energy security should not be controlled by the private sector, but by the government as well.