Cambodia hits oil revenue
September 28th, 2012, The Phnom Penh Post, Business & Commercial Development, Domestic Investment, Economics, Energy, Environment & Natural Resources, Extractive Industries, Foreign Investment, International Relations, Land Tenure, Natural Gas, News Source, Oil, Production
Officials yesterday confirmed that the Cambodian government will receive a majority of the revenue share from Chevron’s offshore Block A oil permit area near Sihanoukville in the Gulf of Thailand. The government expects to issue the American oil giant a production permit licence by the end of this year.
Ek ThA, A spokesman from the Office of the Council of Ministers said the Cambodian government and Chevron were presently working on the deal, which had not yet been concluded. …
Mam Sambath, director of an NGO called Development Partnership in Action (DPA), which focuses on oil and gas transparency, said that revenue sharing was still the big question facing Cambodian civil society. …
The Block A oil field is located 157 kilometers off Cambodia’s coast. Chevron drilled 18 exploratory wells before announcing a commercial discovery in 2010. It will build as many as 10 platforms in the 4,709-square-kilometer field over a period of nine years.
May Kunmakara, P. 7
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012092858984/Business/cambodia-hits-oil-revenue.html
Cambodia eyes domestic oil production, refinery for energy security: official
September 27th, 2012, Platts, Disputed Waters, Energy, Extractive Industries, Land Tenure, Natural Gas, Oil
Cambodia is working on three fronts to improve its energy security and supply, including the development of its first oil-producing asset, looking for ways to resolve a disagreement over disputed territory in the Gulf of Thailand, and studying the economic viability of building its own refinery…
Cambodia’s GDP in 2011 was just under $13 billion, according to the World Bank, and that is expected to grow five-fold by 2030, Khavan said. In recent years, the growth trend has meant annual oil product demand growth of about 10%, with all of the country’s needs being met through imports from Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
The most imminent development that will start to address the issue of energy supply will be kicking off work on Block A in the Gulf of Thailand, an oil exploration block operated by Chevron (30%), with partners Mitsui (30%), KrisEnergy (25%) and GS Caltex (15%)…
Platts Staff
http://www.platts.com/RSSFeedDetailedNews/RSSFeed/Oil/7105582
Firm Plans Impact Assessments off Preah Sihanouk
September 27th, 2012, The Cambodia Daily, Business & Commercial Development, Domestic Investment, Economic Land Concessions, Energy, Environment & Natural Resources, Extractive Industries, Foreign Investment, Land Tenure, Natural Gas, News Source, Oil, Production
Mirach Energy Ltd., formerly known as China Petrotech Holding Ltd. (CPHL), announced on Tuesday that its Cambodian counterpart, CPHL (Cambodia), had contracted two companies to conduct environmental impact studies for offshore assets in Block D, off the coast of Preah Sihanouk province.
Mirach Energy said in a statement that two firms, International Environmental management Company and SAWAC Consultants for Development Company, would start the environmental impact assessment this month. …
Mirach Energy, a Hong Kong-based investment holding which specializes in oil and gas exploration in Southeast Asia, estimated in 2007 that Block D could contain about 227 million barrels of oil and 14 billion cubic meters of natural gas. …
Denise Hruby, P. 19
http://www.camnet.com.kh/cambodia.daily/ (Note: Infrequently Updated.)
Cambodia Aims for Offshore Production Next Year
September 26th, 2012, The Wall Street Journal, Construction, Energy, Extractive Industries, Infrastructure, International Relations, Natural Gas, Oil
The Cambodian government expects U.S. oil major Chevron Corp. CVX -0.53%to begin developing the country’s first offshore oil field early next year, and hopes the nation will become a regional hot spot for oil and gas investment, a government official said Wednesday…
Chevron discovered commercial resources at Block A off Cambodia’s coast, raising hopes that oil revenue would soon flow into the coffers of one of the world’s poorest countries. The company has drilled 18 wells at the block, but reaching terms for developing the field has been slow.
“Cambodia does not yet have all the relevant laws and regulations in place,” Sok Khavan, acting director-general of the Cambodian National Petroleum Authority, said in an interview. “We are very close to finalifinalizing this discussion and hope to have an agreement by the end of the year, so that development can start [next year]“…
JACOB GRONHOLT-PEDERSEN
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390443507204578020023711640726.html
Government Hopes for Chevron Offshore Oil Deal This Year
September 26th, 2012, The Wall Street Journal, Business & Commercial Development, Economics, Energy, Environment & Natural Resources, Extractive Industries, Foreign Investment, International Relations, Natural Gas, News Source, Oil, Production, Technical Assistance
The Cambodian government expects U.S. oil major Chevron Corp. CVX +0.77% to begin developing the country’s first offshore oil field early next year, and hopes the nation will become a regional hot spot for oil and gas investment, a government official said Wednesday.
Cambodia has vast untapped oil and gas resources both on land and offshore, but development has been slow as the country has emerged from the genocidal rule of the Khmer Rouge and decades of war.
Chevron discovered commercial resources at Block A off Cambodia’s coast, raising hopes that oil revenue would soon flow into the coffers of one of the world’s poorest countries. The company has drilled 18 wells at the block, but reaching terms for developing the field has been slow. …
Under a production-sharing agreement, the government will likely receive most of the revenue from the project, though the exact percentage varies with factors including the price of oil and production and development costs, he [Sok Khavan, acting director-general of the Cambodian National Petroleum Authority] said. …
Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390443507204578020023711640726.html
Mirach Energy Aims for Green Light to Start Drilling Cambodia Offshore D
September 25th, 2012, Rigzone, Construction, Economic Land Concessions, Energy, Environment & Natural Resources, Environmental change, Extractive Industries, Infrastructure, International Relations, Mining, Oil
The energy exploration and production company said in a statement on Tuesday that its associate company CPHL (Cambodia) has signed a drilling environmental impact assessment (EIA) contract with two environmental consulting firms…
The firms, the International Environmental Management Company Limited and SAWAC Consultants For Development Company Limited, will work jointly and issue an EIA report, required for drilling to commence in Cambodia Offshore Oil Field Block D…
Block D spans over 3,421 square miles (5506 square kilometres) and was awarded to China Petrotech Holding Limited in 2006..
Quintella Koh
http://www.rigzone.com/news/oil_gas/a/120973/Mirach_Energy_Aims_for_Green_Light_to_Start_Drilling_Cambodia_Offshore_D
Thais eye 2001 Gulf blueprint
September 19th, 2012, The Phnom Penh Post, Business & Commercial Development, Disputed Waters, Energy, Environment & Natural Resources, Extractive Industries, International Relations, Land Tenure, Natural Gas, News Source, Oil
Cambodia and Thailand yesterday reiterated their commitment to restart negotiations over an expansive and resource-rich section of the Gulf of Thailand known as the Overlapping Claims Area – but the two countries have yet to set a date for the talks. …
In 2001, officials from both nations signed a Memorandum of Understanding regarding the joint development of the 26,000-kilometre area, believed to be rich in oil and gas. …
Over the past 10 years, political developments have scuttled the agreement on joint exploration in the Gulf. It wound to a standstill in 2006 when former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who is close to Prime Minister Hun Sen, was toppled in a military coup.
Vong Sokheng, P. 2
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012091958795/National-news/cambodia-thailand-eye-overlapping-claims-area.html
Metro looks to Laos, Cambodia for heavy equipment sales
September 12th, 2012, The Nation, Business & Commercial Development, Construction, Extractive Industries, Infrastructure, International Relations
Metro Machinery, the biggest dealer of heavy construction equipment in Thailand, is looking over the borders to Laos and Cambodia, which are exploiting their abundant natural resources and racing to develop infrastructure.
The company will on October 9 ink two deals worth Bt1.5 billion each – one with a Laotian company in Bangkok and the other with US-based Caterpillar…
Laos and Cambodia have high business potential. Metro directly exports heavy equipment mainly for mining via Laos Metro in Laos. Its exports to Cambodia are managed by Metro Group of Cambodia…
Achara Pongvutitham
http://www.nationmultimedia.com/business/Metro-looks-to-Laos-Cambodia-for-heavy-equipment-s-30190221.html
Angkor sees gold in Liberty
September 10th, 2012, The Phnom Penh Post, Business & Commercial Development, Economic Land Concessions, Environment & Natural Resources, Extractive Industries, Foreign Investment, International Relations, Land Tenure, Mining, News Source
Angkor Gold Corp has acquired a new economic land concession as it gains full control of its other concessions with the purchase of another mining company, according to officials.
According to a statement released last week, Angkor Gold has purchased Liberty Mining International Pty Ltd (Liberty), an Australian firm which had sole control of the Andong Meas economic land concession in Rattanakiri province. …
The acquisition of Liberty along with the Andong Meas concession provides Angkor Gold with a total of five concessions operating under exploration licences in the northeast. …
Gregory Pellechi, P. 9
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012091058590/Business/angkor-sees-gold-in-liberty.html
South China Sea outlook
September 10th, 2012, Mayanmar Times, Energy, Extractive Industries, International Relations, Natural Gas, Oil, Water
The disputes over sovereignty in the South China Sea are approaching a tipping point.
As former ASEAN secretary-general Rodolfo Severino said last month: “The disputes cannot be resolved anytime soon, if at all. The most that can be done is to prevent them developing into armed conflict.”…
There are six claimants to all or part of the sea, which is traversed by over one-third of world shipping and holds rich fishing stocks and vast reserves of oil and gas…
At the ASEAN ministerial meeting in Phnom Penh last month, the Philippines and Vietnam urged their colleagues to publicly support them.
Cambodia, this year’s chairman, would not allow it…
So now, as well as China confronting members of ASEAN, we have the group fighting within itself – so much so that after intemperate accusations of “dirty politics”, Cambodia replaced its ambassador in Manila.
Exacerbating matters, Washington – already imbued with growing anti-Beijing sentiment – has been bolstering the resolve of ASEAN’s claimants, while Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand strengthen their ties to China…
Myanmar Times Staff
http://www.mmtimes.com/2012/news/643/news05.html
Angkor Gold Corp. Acquires the Andong Meas Concession in Cambodia
September 6th, 2012, Gold Investing News, Extractive Industries, Mining
Angkor Gold Corp. (TSXV:ANK4) acquired Liberty Mining ad Transol Mining, owners of the 209 square kilometre Andong Meas concession in Cambodia.
As quoted in the press release:
“The Acquisition results in two significant accomplishments. First, it adds 100% ownership of an entirely new 209-square kilometre concession known as Andong Meas. Second, Angkor previously held 90% of their initial 4 properties and this transaction results in Angkor acquiring the remaining 10% interests. Angkor now owns 100% in five concessions, namely Banlung, Banlung North, Oyadao, Oyadao South, and Andong Meas.
Angkor completed this acquisition (the “Acquisition”) through the purchase of all of the issued and outstanding shares of Liberty Mining International Pty Ltd. (“Liberty”) from Interactive Industrial Solutions Inc. (“IISI”) in exchange for cash in the amount of $200,000 and 4,250,000 common shares in the capital of Angkor. These shares will be voluntarily escrowed for 6 months…
Gold Investing News Staff
http://goldinvestingnews.com/27883/angkor-gold-corp-acquires-the-andong-meas-in-cambodia.html
Emerging Mining Sector to Be Subject to Grassroots Scrutiny
September 4th, 2012, The Cambodia Daily, Business & Commercial Development, Domestic Investment, Economic Land Concessions, Environment & Natural Resources, Exports, Extractive Industries, Foreign Investment, International Relations, Land Tenure, Mining, News Source, Technical Assistance
As mining companies continue to scour Cambodia for minerals, work is also under way to build a network of local monitors and activists to shed light on the country’s often-opaque mining sector and its practices.
…{T]he Ministry of Industry, Mines and Energy has granted an unknown number of licenses to mines, and scattered reports of companies breaking ground have emerged, said Mam Sambath, director of Development and Partnership in Action (DPA), whcih last month, with fellow NGO Equitable Cambodia, launched a guide to help educate villagers to scrutinize the mining sector. …
The guide includes explanations of legislation and advice on campaigning, including how to lobby the media, the international partners of mining companies and foreign embassies. …
Simon Lewis, P. 19
http://www.camnet.com.kh/cambodia.daily/ (Note: Infrequently Updated.)
Gulf talks with Cambodia and oil-concession bids pushed back
September 3rd, 2012, The Nation, Climate Change, Energy, Environmental change, Extractive Industries, International Relations, Natural Gas, Oil
Two items on the government’s energy agenda – preparations for talks with Cambodia on a solution to the countries’ overlapping claims in the Gulf of Thailand and the plan to open a 21st round of bidding for petroleum exploration and production concessions – are likely to be delayed until next year.
The government had planned to finish its preparations for the negotiations next month and send them to the Cabinet and Parliament for approval. However, completion of the preparations might be postponed until next year, as the government does not want to run the risk of the opposition raising the issues in the upcoming censure debate, an Energy Ministry source said.
Songpope Polachan, director-general of the Department of Mineral Fuels, said both countries would benefit from the development of natural gas fields in the overlapping 26,000 square-kilometre area if they can solve the problem quickly…
WATCHARAPONG THONGRUNG
http://www.nationmultimedia.com/business/Gulf-talks-with-Cambodia-and-oil-concession-bids-p-30189597.html
Show the licenses: SRP
August 31st, 2012, The Phnom Penh Post, Economic Land Concessions, Environment & Natural Resources, Extractive Industries, Infrastructure, Land Tenure, Mining, News Source
An opposition lawmaker is calling for the government to publicise its licensing of Cambodian mines, claiming that parliament has never received formal documentation of licensed mining companies.
In a letter to Minister of Industry Mines & Energy Suy Sem last week, Sam Rainsy Party lawmaker Son Chhay demanded to know the number and location of licensed companies, how much these companies pay the government for licences, whether these companies have the right to sell their licences, and whether the government benefits from these sales, such as the one in which the Vietnamese Nam Hai Mineral Joint Stock Company, sold its licence to an Australian company for US$3 million.
“During a period of more than 10 years, there have been many cases of complaints from people about exploring for gold mines and diamonds in an anarchic manner by some companies taking place in Kampong Thom and Ratanakkiri province,” Chhay’s letter stated. …
Meas Sokchea, P. 4
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012083158408/National-news/show-the-licences-srp.html
Tougher disclosure rules for resources giants
August 28th, 2012, The Phnom Penh Post, Banking & Finance, Business & Commercial Development, Economics, Energy, Extractive Industries, Financial Services, Foreign Investment, International Relations, Natural Gas, News Source, Oil, Trade
US-listed corporations in Cambodia, including Chevron, Total, CNOOC and ConocoPhillips, that are engaged in extractive industries are now required to comply with additional transparency rules.
The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) implemented new regulations last week, two years after the legislation was initially passed by Congress.
Cambodian monitors have lauded the new requirements and even suggested further implementation of such measures by the Cambodia government, but industry analysts have said the developments may do nothing more than push illicit activities further underground. …
The SEC now requires the disclosure of all specific payments during all phases of development, including taxes, royalties, fees and licences, production entitlements, bonuses and signature bonuses, dividends and infrastructure improvements. …
Gregory Pellechi, P. 7
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012082858310/Business/tougher-disclosure-rules-for-resources-giants.html
PTT offers $960 mln to buy out Sakari to increase coal assets
August 27th, 2012, Reuters, Extractive Industries, International Relations, Mining
Thailand’s top energy company, has offered to buy out Singapore-listed Sakari Resources Ltd for $960 million as the oil and gas firm expands into coal to meet rising regional demand for the fuel…
On Aug. 13, Sakari announced a joint venture with the Royal Group of Cambodia to explore coal opportunities in Cambodia, its first move outside Indonesia and into one of Southeast Asia’s new mining frontiers. …
Reuters Staff
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/08/27/sakari-ptt-idUSL3E8JR02420120827
Cambodian Transparency Organization Applauds US Rule On Oil, Gas and Mining Payments Disclosure
August 26th, 2012, The Southeast Asia Weekly, Banking & Finance, Business & Commercial Development, Economic Land Concessions, Energy, Environment & Natural Resources, Extractive Industries, Foreign Investment, International Relations, Land Tenure, Mining, Natural Gas, News Source, Oil, Technical Assistance
Cambodians for Resource Revenue Transparency (CRRT) wrote a letter to Ms. Elizabeth M. Murphy, Secretary of U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on February 7, 2012 to back up PWYP’s recommendations and to encourage the Commission to define the “Project” in relation to each lease, license and/or other concession level arrangement entered into by a resource extraction issuer. CRRT also requested that rule should not allow companies to receive exemptions from compliance with the law as a result of host country secrecy laws, as this would simply encourage governments to create new laws restricting transparency.
Today, a Cambodian transparency advocacy group welcomed a rule approved in the United States on Wednesday August 22nd by US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) which will require oil, gas and mining companies to report payments made to the US government or foreign governments. …
The SEC ruling specifically references reporting rules contained in the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), the voluntary global extractive industry organization formed in 2002. (…) Cambodia has thus far declined to join the EITI, which helps improve a country’s investment potential by establishing clear and consistent reporting requirements. …
SEAW
US Extractive Firms Obliged to Disclose Overseas Payments
August 24th, 2012, The Cambodia Daily, Business & Commercial Development, Energy, Environment & Natural Resources, Extractive Industries, Foreign Investment, International Relations, Mining, Natural Gas, News Source, Oil
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has adopted rules that would make it a legal requirement for listed companies operating in the extractive industries and doing business in Cambodia to disclose all major payments they make to the government.
The rules, which were adopted in Washington on Wednesday and stem from the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Investor Protection Act, have been under consideration for the past 16 months as the industry groups did their best to lobby the SEC into making the regulations as loose as possible for fear such levels of openness would put them at a competitive disadvantage.
For Cambodia, it means that such companies as Chevron Corp., Total, ConocoPhilips, and China National Offshore Oil Cooperation-which all have offshore exploration licenses and issue shares in the U.S- will be obliged to disclose all payments made to the Cambodian government over $100,000 from Septmeber 2013 onwards. …
While the Ministry of Finance begun publishing revenues earned from the extractive industries here, it does so arbitrarily and avoids breaking down where the payments come from. …
So far, Cambodia has refused to join global oversight schemes such as the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, which requires governments to declare their income and expenditure from money they earn from payments such as contracts, bonuses and royalties.
Simon Marks, P. 18
http://www.camnet.com.kh/cambodia.daily/ (Note: Infrequently Updated.)
Mining Firm With Local Licenses Sees Investment
August 24th, 2012, The Cambodia Daily, Business & Commercial Development, Economic Land Concessions, Environment & Natural Resources, Extractive Industries, International Relations, Land Tenure, Mining, News Source
BlackRock Inc., the world’s largest investment firm, has purchased a multi-million dollar stake in a mining firm with a gold exploration licenses in Cambodia.
Stephen Promnitz, CEO of Indochine Mining, which is listed on the Australian Stock Exchange and holds a gold exploration license in Kratie and Ratanakkiri provinces, said from Sydney yesterday that BlackRock had bought 9.9 percent of the company’s shares. Still, he distanced BlackRock’s decision from having any link with its assets in Cambodia. …
The company has a market capitalization of $77.8 million. Mr. Promnitz said that the company was still exploring its two Cambodian tenements but said he could not estimate when extraction could begin.
Simon Lewis, P. 21
http://www.camnet.com.kh/cambodia.daily/ (Note: Infrequently Updated.)
Firms Go to Arbitration Over Failed Gold Mining License Deal
August 22nd, 2012, The Cambodia Daily, Business & Commercial Development, Construction, Environment & Natural Resources, Extractive Industries, Foreign Investment, Infrastructure, International Relations, Mining, News Source
Despite touting its Cambodian venture on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (FSE), a British registered mining firm’s plan to extract gold in Ratanakkiri province stalled and the firm may face legal action over a failed deal to obtain an exploration license.
Astra Resources Plc. has also gone ahead with making a string of promising announcements to the market in Germany, including an estimation of a large gold resource in Ratanakkiri, even though it has undertaken absolutely no exploration work in the area. …
In a statement in October 2011, one month after it launched its initial public offering, Astra Resources said it had paid a 10 percent deposit toward a license to mine on 222 square km of the province’s land in O’yadaw district. …
The claims made by the company also raise questions about the legitimacy of the firm’s public announcements regarding its operations is Cambodia. …
Simon Lewis, P. 17
http://www.camnet.com.kh/cambodia.daily/ (Note: Infrequently Updated.)