Assembly to look at national oil firm proposal
THE National Legislation Assembly (NLA) will consider a plan to set up a national oil company as proposed by an NLA parliamentary committee.
According to the NLA’s agenda for its scheduled meeting on Thursday, as seen by reporters, the body will consider a study undertaken by the parliamentary committee set up to review the enforcement of the Petroleum Act BE 2514 and the Petroleum Income Tax BE 2514.
The proposed national oil company would act as the sole representative of the state concerning petroleum exploration and production by managing the resources and overseeing the contracts of private oil companies.
The company would be incorporated as a state-owned agency but would not have to adhere to state enterprise and budgetary regulations, including those concerned with government procurements and public/private joint-investment procedures.
It would hold the rights on behalf of the state to explore and exploit petroleum resources, govern and control the exploration and exploitation of petroleum resources, manage concessions, handle production sharing contracts, and subcontract petroleum production.
Concessions ‘urgent’
Meanwhile, the parliamentary committee agreed that the opening of the 21st round of petroleum concessions was urgent to the nation’s energy security.
However, it said that each petroleum field in the country had different potential and that should be reflected in the country’s petroleum regime, meaning related laws should be amended to allow the adoption of other petroleum regimes in addition to the current concession system.
The government should delay bidding for the new petroleum concessions until it completes the amendments of the related laws, the committee said.
“In case there is an urgency, the parliamentary committee recommends an auction of four or five blocks each time, using the production-sharing system, on the blocks that have sufficient database for potential bidders, in a bid to ensure fair competition and higher returns to the state,” it said.
