Shell quits Thai exploration

Shell quits Thai exploration

BANGKOK (AFP): Oil industry giant Royal Dutch/Shell Group has
announced it will pull out of exploration in Thailand and sell
its interests in the country's most lucrative oil field, reports
said Saturday.

Thai Shell's executive director Martin Bradshaw said the group
would sell its stake in the prestige Sirikit oil field
responsible for 90 percent of the country's crude production, the
Bangkok Post and Nation daily reported.

The company announced in a statement on Friday it would also
invite bids from selected companies for its exploration and
production business in the country, the reports said.

"Shell wished to concentrate on its substantial refining and
marketing businesses in Thailand, and focus its exploration and
production activities in areas which more closely match the scale
of Shell's international business, " Bradshaw was quoted as
saying in the Post.

Shell's announcement follows decisions to pull out of
Thailand's exploration and production industry by other oil
companies, including Statoil of Norway and British Petroleum.