Gulf Oil Drilling Declared Safe

Mineral Fuels Department Director-General Kurujit Nakhonthap said tourism operators on Koh Samui off the southern province of Surat Thani, a favourite destination for tourists in Thailand, have objected to drilling and exploring for petroleum in the Gulf for fear that the actions might affect the environment in the area.

Oil exploration and production in the Gulf have been conducted for over 35 years and there is a need for exploration to continue as Thailand wants to depend less on oil imports, and produces only 40 per cent of its total consumption, said Mr Kurujit.

Reasoning that oil exploration in the Gulf is different to that being carried out in the Gulf of Mexico as exploration there is 40-100 nautical miles offshore at a depth of 30-80 metres along with low pressure and installation of blow out preventers and safety valves, tourism operators on Koh Samui should not be too much worried, Mr Kurujit said.

Most importantly, the Gulf of Thailand contains mainly natural gas while the Gulf of Mexico contains crude oil at about 1.6 kilometres beneath and therefore has high pressure, he said.

Therefore, chances for oil leaks in the Gulf of Thailand are very slim, unlike the Gulf of Mexico, he said.