On the oil front Thai officials are glad that such are close ties will be forged. According to Thai energy minister Prommin Lertsuridej, “Thailand, with [our] excess crude refining capacity, [will] seek to sell oil products to Vietnam, and [will] seek more upstream exploration assets in Vietnamese waters.”
“[And since] Vietnam has no refineries, [this] gives Thailand a good opportunity to sell our oil products there. It will be a win-win game for both sides,” added Lertsuridej.
The minister also voiced out the hope that the Vietnamese government would give out more concessions to the Thai state-run PTT Exploration and Production PCL firm. The company currently owns four offshore stakes in oil and gas blocks in Vietnamese waters.
“It is likely that they will give us more blocks, close to our Arthit field,” said Lertsuridej who declined to give further details. Arthit has estimated reserves of around 1.9 trillion to 2 trillion cubic feet and covers an area of around 3,933 square km.
Vietnam is Asia’s sixth largest crude producer but imports all of its domestic petroleum needs due to the lack of refining facilities. All petroleum imports are controlled by nine state run companies – Petrolimex, Petechim, PDC, Military Petrol & Oil Co, Vinapco, Dong Thap oil & gas trading co, Saigon Petro, Mekong Petro and Petec.
