Thailand’s upstream revival picks up speed

The Southeast Asian producer has reversed declining output and is pushing on with a deepwater-focused new bidding round

Thailand’s upstream sector is gathering momentum after the country reversed an almost decade-long decline in oil and gas production in 2024. Policymakers are moving quickly to consolidate those gains, announcing plans for a deepwater-focused 26th oil and gas bid round just weeks after bids closed for the country’s onshore 25th licensing round. At the heart of this resurgence is a state-driven strategy to rebuild capacity in a sector once seen as in structural retreat. Since 2017, Thailand has shifted from a concession-based model to a more flexible licensing regime and placed state-owned PTTEP at the centre of its upstream ambitions. What once seemed like resource nationalism is now translat