National oil and gas conglomerate PTT Plc may not need to return natural gas pipelines to the state, as the statute of limitations is expiring and the Office of the Attorney-General has yet to take the case to court, says a Finance Ministry source.
It is impossible that the court will be able to deliver a verdict before the statute of limitations expires on Dec 13, the source said.
The Supreme Administrative Court in 2007 ordered the energy firm to return gas pipelines and some land to the state on the grounds that they were national assets.
Following the court's ruling, the cabinet on Dec 18, 2007 split the pipelines and structures used by the conglomerate into two categories. The first included assets worth 32 billion baht owned by the firm and the second comprised assets deemed to belong to the state.
To comply with the cabinet's resolution, PTT Plc returned pipelines worth some 16.2 billion baht. These included a pipeline running from Bang Pakong to Wang Noi, another from the Thai-Myanmar border to Ratchaburi, one linking Ratchaburi to Wang Noi, and several other small structures.
The Office of the Ombudsman last year lodged a complaint with the Administrative Court, demanding PTT return additional gas pipelines -- largely located offshore -- to the state.
After the Ombudsman's petition and scepticism expressed by former finance minister Thirachai Phuvanatnaranubala and former senator Rosana Tositrakul that PTT had not delivered all gas transmission pipelines to the state yet, the Finance Ministry assigned Prapas Kong-Ied, now director-general of the Public Debt Management Office, to study the issue.
The working committee later proposed that the Finance Ministry ask the cabinet to request the Office of the Attorney-General to file a petition with the court.
The cabinet in February resolved to task the Office of the Attorney-General with bringing the case to court to force the return of the pipelines.
The Council of State's interpretation of the 2007 Supreme Administrative Court ruling mandates that the gas pipeline cannot be divided into parts, as some parts cannot transmit natural gas -- requiring PTT to hand over the entire pipeline network to the Treasury Department, from which the energy firm can rent the network.
The legal dispute has a 10-year statute of limitations and the court will be unable to force PTT to transfer the remaining gas pipelines to the state if the period lapses, the source said. If that happens, the Finance Ministry's committee tasked with the gas pipelines' return will be held responsible, the source said.
