Page 34 - ELITE PLUS MAGAZINE VOL 12

Amendments to the Thai Petroleum Act, on the other hand, have brought the country back to outdated concepts of traditional concessions, allowing developers to occupy large areas over long periods of timeflat rate. Furthermore, a 2007 amendment permitted the energy minister to reduce royalty fees by as much as 90%, instead of a previous discount rate of 30%.Most ASEAN countries have revised petroleum exploration and production legislation. Amendments to the Thai Petroleum Act, on the other hand, have brought the country back to outdated concepts of traditional concessions, allowing developers to occupy large areas over long periods of time.A production-sharing system differs in three respects: by maintaining rights over explored petroleum products, over petroleum resource data and over equipment used in production. A report from the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies states that production-sharing contracts offer more benefit to the state.In a concessional system, all three rights from the first to the last day of a contract are given to private concessionaires, who have an advantage over the state and rival developers in the concessional area even after the contract has expired.Disadvantages of the system are illustrated by offshore petroleum exploration in two major plots, Erawan and Bongkot, which account for 57% of Thailand’s petroleum output. Concessions over the two plots will expire in 202232 Elite+