Petroleum Act Section 4 — Definitions

Section 4 defines petroleum activity ("กิจการปิโตรเลียม") as exploring for, producing, storing, transporting, selling or distributing petroleum. "Petroleum" covers crude oil, natural gas, natural gas liquids, by-product substances and other naturally occurring hydrocarbons in a free state (solid, viscous, liquid or gas), including heavy hydrocarbons that can be brought up directly from a deposit using heat or chemical processes; it excludes coal, oil shale and other rock that must be distilled to yield oil. An exploration block ("แปลงสำรวจ") is an area fixed for petroleum exploration and a production area ("พื้นที่ผลิต") is an area fixed for petroleum production. "Kingdom" includes the continental shelf to which Thailand is entitled under generally accepted international law and treaties with foreign states.