Gulf talks with Cambodia and oil-concession bids pushed back
Two items on the government’s energy agenda – preparations for talks with Cambodia on a solution to the countries’ overlapping claims in the Gulf of Thailand and the plan to open a 21st round of bidding for petroleum exploration and production concessions – are likely to be delayed until next year. The government had planned to finish its preparations for the negotiations next month and send them to the Cabinet and Parliament for approval. However, completion of the preparations might be postponed until next year, as the government does not want to run the risk of the opposition raising the issues in the upcoming censure debate, an Energy Ministry source said. Songpope Polachan, director-general of the Department of Mineral Fuels, said both countries would benefit from the development of natural gas fields in the overlapping 26,000 square-kilometre area if they can solve the problem quickly…
