Cambodia’s First Productive Oil Field Project to Begin Production by Late 2019

• 16 August 2018
• Local News
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Sample Photo / Credit: Maersk Drilling (Flickr)

The first drop of oil to be extracted from Cambodia’s offshore oil field territory is scheduled as planned for late 2019. The news follows the latest update from KrisEnergy that it has now closed invitations to contractors for the tender for the engineering, procurement, construction, installation and commissioning services for the Apsara Oil Field Project.

According to a report in Offshore Magazine, the firm is currently reviewing the submitted bids and is seeking clarifications with the applicants, after the tender drew big interest from Asian contractors since the opening for bids in May.

The Apsara Oil Field is located in Block A of the Khmer Basin in the Gulf of Thailand which has been identified as the first productive oil field to be brought online in the Kingdom of Cambodia. KrisEnergy has been the partner in the block license since 2010 and then in 2014 took over as the operator of the area.

On23 August 2017, KrisEnergy and the Government of Cambodia signed an initial agreement to formally commence development of the Apsara Oil Field under 95% – 5% shares basis, of which the KrisEnergy Group holds 95% and the government holds 5%.

Based on that contract, the first oil production from the field is expected to be achieved in the next 24 months after the final investment decision is declared.

The contract area covers 3,083 square kilometres over the Khmer Basin where water depths range from 50 metres to 80 metres, and the Apsara area is the first to be developed in the block. KrisEnergy has divided the Apsara area into three phases, 1A, 1B and 1C, of which the first two stages are covered in the contract.

A total of 27 wells have so far been drilled in Block 1A, of which 13 wells have struck oil and gas. In addition, 6 more prospective areas for development have been identified based on the 2D and 3D data, including, PouloWai, Basit, AngkeaSel, Rotanak, Bokor and Da.

According to the same Offshore Magazine, this oil field is expected to deliver up to 8,000 bpd (barrels per day) or equal to 1.2 million litres of crude per day. Therefore, KrisEnergy expects the price for gasoline in Cambodia to decrease by late 2019.

This can be a considered as one of the biggest engineering projects ever undertaken in the Kingdom of Cambodia and for decades the nation has always been dependent on imported oil from overseas to meet its energy demands.

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