A motorcyclist rides past a PTT petrol station on Monivong Blvd in Phnom Penh’s Boeung Keng Kang district. Heng Chivoan
Public-listed Thai conglomerate PTT Oil and Retail (OR) will be investing $100 million to develop an oil depot for aviation refuelling at Techo International Airport (TIA), Phnom Penh’s new airport, where first phase operation is scheduled in mid 2024.
As of July 31, the airport, built by Cambodia Airport Investment Co Ltd (CAIC), is 43 per cent complete and has consumed up to $617 million in construction cost as of end-2022 since its groundbreaking ceremony in 2019.
According to The Bangkok Post on August 17, OR’s aviation refuelling depot, which is part of its overseas business expansion plan, aims to serve the rapid post-pandemic growth in Cambodia’s economy.
In 2021, OR and two other companies – China National Aviation Fuel International Holdings Ltd and Total Energies Marketing (Cambodia) Co Ltd – set up a joint venture firm, Phnom Penh Aviation Fuel Service Co (PPAFS), to operate the aviation refuelling business in the new Phnom Penh airport.
The three companies poured in equal investments, each holding a 33.33 per cent stake in PPAFS, The Bangkok Post wrote.
In July last year, PPAFS signed a concession agreement with airport concessionaire CAIC.
OR president and CEO Disathat Panyarachun was quoted as saying that the construction of a jet refuelling facility was 80 per cent complete and is scheduled to open next year.
He said Cambodia can serve as a new market for oil products from OR group.
“Its subsidiary, Thai Oil Plc, aims to expand its oil refinery capacity by 60 per cent to 450,000 barrels per day, up from 280,000 barrels per day,” Disathat reportedly said.
Asked to comment, Sinn Chanserey Vutha, secretary of state of the State Secretariat for Civil Aviation (SSCA) said since the business expansion of PTT was done on a “business to business” basis, SSCA did involve itself in the agreement.
Currently, OR and Total Energies (Cambodia) are supplying jet oil to aircrafts in the existing international airport in Phnom Penh.
“I also want to share that a Chinese firm has set up their own gasoline firm to supply their jet oil in the new airport. So, there will be a commercial agreement between them and other gasoline firms. As a state authority, we do not get involved as it would be done on a business to business basis,” he told The Post on August 17.
In The Bangkok Post article, Disathat mentioned that Cambodia can serve as a new market for oil products from OR Group.
“Its subsidiary Thai Oil Plc aims to expand its oil refinery capacity by 60 per cent to 450,000 barrels per day, up from 280,000 barrels per day,” he said.
CAIC is a joint venture between Overseas Cambodia Investment Corporation (OCIC) and the SSCA, with an ownership ratio of 90:10 basis, OCIC said on its website.
The 4F-class airport is being built on a 2,600ha plot stretching between Kandal province’s Kandal Stung and Sa’ang districts as well as Takeo province’s northernmost district of Bati.
