The Role of the Government and Civil Society in Supervising the Decommissioning of Petroleum Platforms in the Gulf of Thailand

Abstract

The Objectives of this research were to study 1) policy, laws, and bidding methods for petroleum fields in Thailand, 2) the role of the government in supervising the demolition of petroleum rigs in the Gulf of Thailand, and 3) the interaction between the government, concessionaire sector, and civil society involved in overseeing the demolition of petroleum rigs in the Gulf of Thailand. The qualitative research used  in-depth interviews of 11 key informants by government executives, politicians, concessionaires, civil society, and academics, selected by purposive sampling. Data were analyzed by content analysis.

The results revealed as follows: 1) when the private sector receives the right under the concession contract from the government to invest in the construction and work to find returns within the specified period. The private sector will hold ownership of the assets after the expiration of the concession period. Ownership of the invested assets is transferred to the government, and the concessionaire sector had to pay as collateral for the demolition of the installation. 2) The government must closely play a role as a mediator of conflicts arising from this concession, both with the original concessionaire and the new concessionaire, allowing various operations to be possible in peace and order without any side being affected too much. 3) The relationship between the government sector, concessionaire sector, and the civil society involved are significantly related because all three sectors are stakeholders and joint stakeholders. The interaction between the government sector and the concessionaire will be in the same direction: national energy security. As for civil society, it will consider what the society will gain from the government's actions and how it will affect them.