Energy ministry sets March target to resolve Chevron dispute(Reuters photo)The Energy Ministry said on Tuesday it had set a March target to resolve a $2-billion dispute with US oil-and-gas major Chevron Corp and would make the "utmost effort" to reach a deal after the company halted arbitration. The dispute resulted from a retroactive Thai law in 2016 requiring gas field operators to pay the costs of decommissioning assets they have installed even if they no longer operate them. The dispute has implications for France's Total SA and Japan's Mitsui & Co, which also have stakes in soon-expiring offshore energy concessions in the Gulf of Thailand. Ministry officials estimated the decommissioning costs for some 50 assets in the Bongkot field, operated by PTTEP and Total, are worth around $1 billion. In the Erawan field, Chevron and Mitsui & Co operate some 200 assets, estimated to cost around $2 billion to remove.

Source: Bangkok Post October 08, 2019 13:07 UTC