Thailand's vice minister for energy, Viset Choopiban, confirmed that his ministry was studying plans that would see the capability to store between 50-100 million barrels of oil as opposed to the earlier proposed 10 million barrels. This was done after some initial queries as to what oil storage facilities would be available at the oil facility.
Some of the companies that have shown their interest are National Oil Corp, Mitsui, Itochu and China National Chemical Import and Export. The Omani government has also shown some interest.
Although the exact location of the land bridge has yet to be identified (factors like tourism and the environment are still being looked into), the 230-kilometre bridge will link the Gulf of Thailand from Nakohn Si Thammarat to the Andaman Sea at Krabi. Once completed, it will link oil terminals on either side of the Kra Isthmus via a 230-kilometre, 42-inch-wide oil pipeline and a road-rail link.
