Cambodia’s Feitian Oilfield has supplied 300,000 barrels of oil so far Cambodia has invited Iran to study the feasibility of developing the country’s existing oil blocks and conduct further oil and gas exploration studies. The move comes after Cambodia wraps up its brief foray into oil production after the Singapore-based exploration company KrisEnergy, which it commissioned, declared bankruptcy in June 2021. The result is the country’s first-ever oil extraction from Block A of the Apsara field in the Gulf of Thailand – at nearly 300,000 barrels…
Cambodia has invited Iran to study the feasibility of developing the country’s existing oil blocks and conduct further oil and gas exploration studies.
The move comes after Cambodia ended The company briefly forayed into the oil production business after the Singapore-based exploration company KrisEnergy, which it commissioned, declared bankruptcy in June 2021. The result was the country’s first oil extraction from Block A of the Apsara field in the Gulf of Thailand. It came to a complete stop after only nearly 300,000 barrels of oil had been extracted.
Cheap Sour, head of the General Directorate of Petroleum under the Ministry of Mines and Energy of Cambodia, praised Iran as a country “with rich experience in oil and gas production” at a recent bilateral meeting and invited investors from the Middle East to investigate Cambodia’s existing and exploring new oil blocks, but said those talks were at a “very early stage”.
Oil exploration expected to resume
Hon Wanak, director of international economics at the Royal Academy of Cambodia, said that if Iran agrees to Cambodia’s request to invest in and develop the country’s oil blocks, it will have a positive impact on the local oil sector and could mean a resumption of production. Pumping operations suspended due to KrisEnergy’s bankruptcy.
Ky Sereyvath, an economics researcher at the Royal Academy of Cambodia, added: “The ministry’s efforts to attract investors to develop the oil industry are very important [in promoting] The successful extraction of Cambodian oil, we hope this will bring down oil prices and allow the government to [generate] Increase income to help key areas such as healthcare and education. “
Talk about building refineries, technical assistance and skills training
According to Sour, in addition to discussing investment and cooperation in developing Cambodia’s oil blocks, studies are also being considered on the feasibility of setting up an oil refinery in Cambodia. He added that possible Iranian participation must be accompanied by the provision of technical assistance, human resource training in the oil sector and the development of the necessary infrastructure.
The Middle East is indeed interested in Cambodia’s oil resources. In late 2019, Mubadala Petroleum, a major oil and gas company from the United Arab Emirates, pursued investment opportunities in the Cambodian oil sector, but did not take further action when the Covid-19 crisis hit.
