document: Thailand Government is planning to officially launch and invite bid proposals for a new Thailand 23st Petroleum Bidding Round, in April 2020. Only offshore blocks located in the Gulf Thailand will be auctioned this round, with details definition still in progress. The Department of Mineral Fuels (DMF) is scheduled to send invitations to potential companies by March 2020 and the blocks will eventually open for bid proposals in April 2020. Applications need to be submitted by September 2020. The stage of screening and selection procedures will be conducted in Q4 2020. Finally, contract signing for the winning bidders is scheduled for January 2021.  The onshore acreage offering has been excluded, due to limitations with environmental issues. An amendment to the existing Agricultural Land Reform Act of 1975 is necessary to enable exploration and production activities to be carried out in onshore areas of the country.  The DMF would probably re-offer six blocks in the Gulf of Thailand, which was offered during the 21st Petroleum Bidding Round in 2014. The proposed offshore bid blocks are G01/57, G02A/57-G02B/57, G03/57, G04/57, G05A/57-G05B/57 (Gulf of Thailand Basin) and G06/57 in the north Malay Basin.  The government considers the new bidding round as a priority to accelerate the discovery and development of new domestic petroleum resources in a country that heavily relies on gas and LNG imports. The government estimates that proven gas reserves in Thailand will be exhausted within six to seven years, if no further exploration is conducted.  Background Information  Since the 1st Licensing Round was launched in 1971, a total of 847 concessions and 2 PSC blocks were offered to E&P companies in Thailand.   The last licensing round, 22nd Bidding Round was officially launched on 24 April 2018, offering two major fields in the Gulf of Thailand. The auction of Erawan and Bongkot blocks was originally planned for November 2014, however it was delayed due to amendment of the Petroleum Act. A revised Petroleum Act was enacted on 23 June 2017, implementing the use of Production Sharing Contracts (PSCs) and service contracts, in addition to royalty/tax concessions. the first official PSCs were awarded on 25 February 2019 to PTTEP and Mubadala Petroleum for G1/61 (Erawan field) and G2/61 (Bongkot field) blocks.  The long-delayed 21st Bidding Round, on the other hand, has been officially cancelled in late January 2020, after five years of suspension from the official launching date. Several attempts to relaunch did not proceed as planned due to political instability and economic slowdowns. The bid round was originally planned to begin in 2011, however was suspended in February 2015 (four months after official launch) in response to strong opposition by local activist groups pushing for reforms to the existing petroleum laws.
summary: Thailand Government is planning to officially launch and invite bid proposals for a new Thailand 23st Petroleum Bidding Round, in April 2020. Only offshore blocks located in the Gulf Thailand will be auctioned this round, with details definition still in progress. The Department of Mineral Fuels (DMF) is scheduled to send invitations to potential companies by March 2020 and the blocks will eventually open for bid proposals in April 2020. Applications need to be submitted by September 2020. 