According to the country's energy minister, Prommin Lertsuridej, "We hope our crude oil production will double to 200,000 bpd in the next three-four years."

The deputy director general of Thailand's Mineral Fuels Department, Krairit Nilkuha, feels that the energy minister''s goals can be achieved. "Thailand [has] the potential to produce 140,000-150,000 bpd of crude oil in the next one to two years, especially with contributions from the B8/32 tract where Chevron has discovered high crude oil reserves from exploration made there in the past two years."

"More crude oil discoveries are expected from the 13 concessions which were recently awarded to petroleum firms under the recent 18th round of bidding as these tracts are in close proximity to existing ones that hold a substantial amount of oil reserves," added Nilkuha.