Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala Petroleum said on Feb. 26 it has signed the production-sharing contract (PSC) with its partner PTTEP Energy Development Co. for an offshore block containing the Erawan producing gas field in Thailand.

The current block G1/61 concession will expire in April 2022, and PTTEP Energy Development Co., a subsidiary of PTT Exploration and Production Pcl, will then assume operational control.

The Thai firm will hold a 60% participating interest, and Mubadala Petroleum will hold the balance in the PSC for the block, Mubadala Petroleum said in a statement.

PTTEP said a PSC was also signed for the G2/61 Field, also called the Bongkot Field. PTTEP is currently the operator of the field.

In a news release, PTTEP said it plans to invest about THB 1 trillion (US$31.9 billion) in the Bongkot and Erawan fields as it works to produce at least 700 million cubic feet per day (MMscf/d) and 800 MMscf/d, respectively. The investment includes drilling E&P wells and constructing additional wellhead platforms, the company said.

“From 2022 onward, about 80% of the natural gas production in the Gulf of Thailand will be under our operations,” PTTEP CEO Phongsthorn Thavisin said in the release. “This means PTTEP will become the largest producer of natural gas in the country, demonstrating our success in carrying out the mission to establish energy security to Thailand.”

Hart Energy staff contributed to this report.

Offshore