Erawan, Bongkot gas fields handed over to PTTEP ED without a glitch
The operation of the Erawan and Bongkot gas fields in the Gulf of Thailand has been smoothly handed over to a new concessionaire, the Mineral Fuels Department said on Sunday.
Sarawut Kaewtatip, director-general of the Mineral Fuels Department, said the operation of Erawan (G1/61) and Bongkot (G2/61) gas fields continued uninterrupted during the transition period.
PTTEP Energy Development Co Ltd (PTTEP ED) won the bid for both fields in December 2018 and signed new product-sharing contracts with the government. PTTEP ED is a subsidiary of PTT Exploration and Production Plc.
Sarawut said this is the first time that a product-sharing contract has been signed in Thailand, heralding a change from concession contracts that have been in use for more than 50 years.
Under the new contract, the government will take 68 per cent of the production profits from Erawan and 70 per cent from Bongkot, an earlier report from Reuters said.
The two fields have a combined output of 2.1 billion cubic feet of gas daily.
Chevron Corp’s Thai unit operated the Erawan gas block earlier and the state-backed PTTEP ran the Bongkot bloc before PTTEP ED won production and development rights of both gas fields on December 13 2018.
Meanwhile, Sarawut said the Mineral Fuels Department had set up a war room to manage the smooth transition and coordinate between the new and old concessionaires as well as buyers of natural gas.
He said initially Chevron would not allow the new concessionaire to enter the G1/61 field during the transition period, but the department stepped in and negotiated an agreement on December 20. The new concessionaire was then allowed to enter the field to prepare for gas production.
During the transition period, the department set up eight teams to monitor the situation at the gas rigs closely.
A team was stationed at each of the five gas rigs and three others at the petroleum tankers. The team measured the volume of the last round of production and the amount of petroleum stored in the tankers before operations were officially handed over to the new contractor.
He said the department also checked the structure and safety of facilities for production at both fields before the handover.
He also applauded department officials for the handover going ahead without a glitch.
The Erawan field produced 399 million cubic feet of gas and Bongkot’s G2/61 938 million cubic on the day of the handover.
