The government and Canadian firm EnerCam Co will soon sign an oil exploration agreement for Block VIII in Preah Sihanouk province, a senior official at the General Department of Petroleum said on Monday.
General Department of Petroleum director-general Cheap Sour said the Ministry of Mines and Energy said it is currently negotiating an agreement with Canadian firm EnerCam Co to explore Block VIII.
“I hope we will be reaching an agreement on oil exploration with the company soon as negotiations are underway,” he said.
Sour told The Post last month the ministry is prioritising attracting more investors to the mines and energy sector in the Kingdom.
Angkor Gold Corp announced that its subsidiary EnerCam Resources Co Ltd (EnerCam) has received government approval on its application for a 7,300sq km oil and gas concession in Cambodia, a press release said in August last year.
With this approval, Angkor is now proceeding with negotiations for the Production Sharing Agreement with regard to the license.
This approval also allows Angkor to pursue oil and gas exploration on Block VIII, it said.
The company said Petroleum Block VIII is located in the Kampong-Som Basin, a recently recognised and unexplored onshore sedimentary basin in southeastern Cambodia.
It was first identified and interpreted as a foreland basin in 2016 by researchers from the Danish Geological Survey who were interpreting a marine seismic database off the south coast of Vietnam.
According to Sour, Cambodia has divided regions for oil and gas exploration into six offshore and 19 onshore blocks.
Currently, Chinese-owned Cambodian Resources Energy Development Co Ltd has been granted a three-year exploration licence in the Gulf of Thailand’s Block D, off the coast of Cambodia, according to the ministry.
The company is scheduled to begin exploration of Block D this year. Block D is a 5,500sq km zone in the Gulf of Thailand.
“Right now, the company is studying all the paperwork. Next, they will begin exploring the oil field,” Sour said.
Singapore-based KrisEnergy is currently developing the Apsara oilfield in Cambodia’s offshore Block A.
The company aims to extract the first drop of oil later this year. The field is expected to reach a peak rate of 7,500 barrels of oil per day, according to KrisEnergy.
