Thailand wants to negotiate a better return from its petroleum concessions held by Chevron Corp and Thailand's PTT Exploration and Production , the Energy Minister said. Minister Anantaporn Kanjanarat said energy policy makers would meet on Monday to discuss increasing the government's share of the revenue in return for extending the contracts, which are due to expire in 2022-2023.
If they fail to reach new deals, another option would be to put the concessions up for auction, Anantaporn told reporters at a seminar, adding that the plan was subject to cabinet approval. The ministry would only negotiate with the oil companies after getting cabinet approval.
The two contracts account for about 65 percent of Thailand's petroleum output. Under the existing deals, the government receives taxes and royalties equivalent to about 67 percent of pretax profits from production.
Thailand relies natural gas to generate nearly 70 percent of its power and is under pressure to secure long-term energy supplies as its own resources are expected to run out in six to seven years. About a fifth of its supplies are piped in from neighbouring Myanmar but imports are likely to fall as the country is expected to use more of its natural gas for its own development. Thailand is also considering raising its long-term target for renewable energy if production costs continue to fall as part of its drive to reduce dependence on fossil fuels, the energy minister said.
New technologies have helped cut average production costs for renewables by 30 percent a year in the past seven years to 30 million baht ($840,000) per megawatt, he said, adding they were likely to fall another 20 percent over the next five years.
The military government wants to boost renewable energy to more than 19,000 megawatts, or 30 percent of its total energy production mix, by 2036, the minister said, citing the latest power development plan.
As of April, Thailand had signed contracts with power producers to buy 9,041 MW of renewable energy, mostly biomass and solar, and about two-thirds had already been linked to the national grid, he said.
