PetroVietnam Seeks Oil Investment in Cambodia

A Vietnamese petroleum company is seeking an investment opportunity in Cambodia's oil exploration, said a senior government official on Tuesday.

Pen Ngoeun, advisor to the Cambodian government said that Dinh La Thang, chairman of PetroVietnam, on Tuesday met with Sok An, deputy prime minister and minister of the Council of Ministers, expressing his company's interest in investing in oil exploration in Cambodia.

He said Sok An, in response, welcomed the move, but suggested more study and discussions be made with Cambodian National Petroleum Authority before making into any agreement.

Many international petroleum companies, including the U.S. Chevron Corp, Polytec, Medco, Kuwait Energy and CNOOC, expressed their interests in putting investments in the sector after this country had revealed to the public of its available national resources in oil and gas in its offshore in the Gulf of Thailand.

Ho Vichet, vice chairman of the Cambodian National Petroleum Authority said last year that Cambodia's expectation of its first oil development before 2010 was unlikely due to the slow submission of a development plan by the U.S. giant Chevron Corp.

He said Cambodia permitted Chevron to exploit the country's offshore Block A, one of several blocks, to do more exploration and appraisal.

According to Vichet, Chevron operates the block A with a 55 percent interest, while Mitsui Oil Exploration holds a 30 percent and South Korea's GS Caltex a 15 percent stake.

Cambodia has earlier estimated its oil production would reach 400-600 million barrels, but have later turned down their estimates saying it was too early to speculate the outcome before a business gets started.