Thailand’s government has awarded state-owned PTT Exploration & Production Public Company (PTTEP) and Abu Dhabi’s investment vehicle Mubadala-owned upstream firm Mubadala Petroleum an offshore gas concession in Thailand, for which the two made a joint bid.

MEED in November reported that the consortium of Mubadala Petroleum and PTTEP was set to win the Erawan gas block located in the Gulf of Thailand.

The Mubadala Petroleum-PTTEP consortium beat joint bids from US energy major Chevron, the current operator of the Erawan block, and Japan’s Mitsui Oil Exploration, to win the concession, as per local media reports.

PTTEP has also secured a renewal of its concession agreement for the Bongkot block, the other gas asset Thailand put on offer. It made a solo bid for the block.

The existing concession licenses for the Erawan and Bongkot blocks, operated by Chevron and PTTEP respectively, expire in 2022 and 2023, following which the new operators will take over the assets.

The two gas fields have an estimated combined output of 2 billion cubic feet a day of gas, and accounts for 60 per cent of Thailand’s total gas production.

The Thai government is due to sign the formal concession contracts with the winning bidders in February next year.

As per local reports, bid evaluation for the gas blocks was based on gas prices, profit-sharing ratio, bonuses and other benefits, as well as employment of Thai workers in operations.