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 THAILAND
Southeast Asia
Oil and gas are produced onshore mostly by Shell and
Esso at the Sirikit oil and the Nam Phong gas field respectively but
Thailand is primarily a gas producer from the shallow waters of the
southern Gulf of Thailand, from fields first discovered in the 1970s and
progressively developed since 1981.
 Offshore:
The Department of Mineral Resources is responsible for the petroleum
industry whilst the Petroleum Authority of Thailand (PTT) is the
national oil company with PTT Exploration and Production (PTTEP) its
main upstream subsidiary.
Unocal is the biggest producer from gas fields in the
southern part of the Gulf. Gas was first produced from the Erawan field
in 1981 at 1.3 Bcm per year by pipelines to power and cement plants near
Bangkok, Rayong and Khanom district in Nakhon Si Thammarat province.
During the 1980s Unocal signed 3 gas supply agreements
with PTT and Thailand’s first Gas Separation Plant was built in 1984 to
produce liquids. A second plant was constructed in 1991. Production grew
with the addition of the Baanpot, Dara, Satun, Pladang, Platong, and
Kaphong fields on the same trend and Unocal continues to increase gas
production from this area.
 The Pailin field, which came onstream in 1999 in block
12/27, added 1.7 Bcm of gas per year and Unocal has undertaken a second
phase of development at Pailin to raise output to 3.4 Bcm per year.
PTTEP’s Bongkot field came onstream in 1993 with original
reserves of around 100 Bcm of gas and 62 mm Bbls of liquids. It is
Thailand’s largest gas field, lying south of Unocal’s acreage, 640 km
from Bangkok. Output has risen from an initial 1.6 Bcm to 5.8 Bcm per
year through its phased development plan. The development comprises a
central gas gathering, processing, export and accommodation complex, an
FSO to handle condensate, and 14 wellhead platforms.
In the northern Gulf, ChevronTexaco began producing gas
from Tantawan, discovered in 1992, and Bechamas/Pakakrong in 1997 from
Block B8/32 and in 2004 this area supplied around 2.4 Bcm per year of
gas in association with oil, up from 1.5 Bcm per year in 2002.
Offshore oil production associated with gas, mostly in
the northern Gulf is also increasing. Condensate and oil is produced
from around 13 fields including Benchamas/Pakakrong, Tantawan, Maliwan
and Plamuk as well as from the Bongkot field. ChevronTexaco is the
biggest liquids producer.
Gas exploration is also proceeding in the
Malaysian/Thailand Joint Development Area (JDA) in the southern Gulf,
with revenue from output split 50:50. The Cakerwala field in block A-18
came onstream in 2005 delivering gas to Malaysia, via Songkla in
Thailand, and then to Thailand in 2006.
A second disputed area along the border with Vietnam was
resolved in 1997 and on the Thai side the 100 Bcm Arthit field was
discovered in 1999. In 2001 Thailand and Cambodia signed agreements to
jointly explore along their overlapping claim area (OCA). Both gas and
oil accumulations are possible but many fiscal issues need to be
resolved.
The western coast of southern Thailand fronts the Andaman
Sea where a series of narrow rift basins extend from Myanmar to
Indonesia. A few wells have been drilled here but with no success.
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