With the potential for vast state revenues from oil extraction and mining in coming years, Cambodia is currently failing to manage its nascent extractive industries according to a think tank.
New York-based Revenue Watch Institute yesterday launched its 2013 Resource Governance Index, which included Cambodia for the first time.... continue
The Kingdom imported 412,190 tonnes of petroleum in the first quarter of 2013, compared with 471,000 tonnes in the same period the previous year, a decline of 12 per cent, according to the Ministry of Commerce.
A private sector representative said the drop does not mean a slowdown in production but came as a result of more stock being kept over from 2012 because of price fluctuations.
The data showed that between January and March of this year the country spent $397 million on petroleum, down 15 per cent from $469 million during the same period last year. …
Cambodia imported 412,190 tons of Crude Oil in Q-1 of Y 2013, a 12% fall compared with the 471,000 tons it imported at the same period last year, the Commerce ministry’s report showed Saturday.
During the January-March period this year, the country spent US$ 397-M to buy its Crude Oil down 15% from US$469-M at the same period last year, it said. …
On 8 April, during the official visit of Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen to China, Hun Sen and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang witnessed a signing on a Memorandum of Understanding MOU on a 5-M tons Crude Oil refinery project among China Development Bank HK:1062, China Export and Credit Insurance Corporation, China Perfect Machinery Industry Corporation and Cambodian Petrochemical Company. …
Prime Minister Hun Sen will travel to China on Saturday to meet with the rising superpower’s new leadership, in a trip the government expects to yield nearly $2 billion in loans and aid.
Most significantly, the Government is hoping to secure Chinese funding for a 1.67 billion oil refinery project in Kampot province, which would ensure China’s prime position in Cambodia’s yet-to-take-off oil industry. …
The statement [from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation] lists eight deals including a memorandum of understanding between the National Bank of Cambodia and China Banking Regulatory Commission, an “agreement on economic and technical cooperation” worth 48.38 million, more than $73 million in concessional loans for an irrigation project in Kompong Thom province and a bridge in Kandal province.
According to the statement, the government also expects to sign a memorandum of understanding on a 5-million-ton-a-year oil refinery project, involving China Development Bank and China Export and Credit Insurance Corporation, both Chinese state-owned companies, to the tune of $1.67 billion.
China’s development bank is known as one of China’s “policy banks”- meaning that it gives loans in support of Chinese foreign policy. Such banks have funded Chinese-built hydropower dams in Cambodia.
In December, China Perfect Machinery Industry Corp.- which is majority owned by state-owned industrial giant SINOMACH- and Cambodian Petrochemical Company- which is chaired by cigarette magnate Kong Triv- agreed that work would begin on the oil refinery this year. …
Two Chinese companies, China National Offshore Oil Corporation and China Petrotech Holdings ltd., have been grated exploration blocks off Cambodia’s coat to search for oil and gas. …
Malaysia-based Hibiscus Petroleum Berhad has tied up with Rex International Holding Pte Ltd to participate in exploration opportunities in Cambodia and 10 other countries across the Asia-Pacific region, according to a statement released last Thursday.
Hibiscus’s wholly owned subsidiary Orient Hibiscus Sdn Bhd and Rex International Holding subsidiary Rex South East Asia Ltd have formed the 50-50 joint venture HiRex Petroleum Sdn Bhd, which will have the right of first refusal to participate in exploration opportunities across Southeast Asia as well as Australia and New Zealand. …
The Edge Malaysia reported in January that Petronas, Malaysia’s national oil and gas firm, was again eyeing the Cambodian oil and gas sector almost three years after withdrawing from the Kingdom. …
PHNOM PENH – Cambodia imports all of its fuel from abroad, but little regulation in the sector means everyday Cambodians see all kinds of prices at the pumps. Prices are high in Phnom Penh, while sometimes cheaper on the outskirts of the capital and even cheaper in the countryside. And they can be different from station to station, even on the same stretch of road. …
The price for premium gasoline in Phnom Penh was as high as 5,700 riel per liter, or about $1.90, on March 3, though prices vary from station to station. …
Researcher Kim Ley, who keeps an eye on fuel prices, said high taxes on fuel mean more incentives for smuggling. And because the government does not disclose information on petroleum imports and prices to the public, some companies take advantage. …
Officially, import tariffs are about 35 percent for gasoline and 22 percent for diesel, according to the international petroleum company Caltex. According to Ministry of Finance data, around 1.65 million tons were imported in 2012—and increase of about 19 percent. …
Kong Chandararoth, an economist and head of the Cambodian Institute of Development Study, said lower prices are good news for people in the countryside, but the system as a whole should reflect more balanced pricing.
Mong Reththy Group (MRG) will begin construction on a US$16 million crude palm oil refinery next month in Preah Sihanouk province, where several thousand hectares of palm trees are grown, insiders said yesterday.
Mong Reththy, president of the eponymous firm, told the Post that his company intends to start construction on the 60-tonne capacity refinery in April, with the plant to be finished within 12 months. …
Cambodia’s focus on hydropower will reduce its independence on oil and ensure nationwide access to electricity at a stable price, Prime Minister Hun Sen said in a speech Saturday during the inauguration of a $47.1 million hydropower dam in Koh Kong province. …
However environmental groups have said the government’s focus on hydropower is misguided, as information on the likely environmental and social impacts of dam projects is sorely lacking, particularly the consequences for the countries fisheries. …
Mr. Hun Sen also said that Cambodia currently obtains more than 200 megawatts of electricity from its hydroelectric dams: 190 megawatts from the Kamchay dam in Kampot province, 18 megawatts from the Kirrirom II dam in Koh Kong and another 12 from the Kirrirom I dam in Kompong Speu province.
But in the coming years, Mr. Hun Sen said, additional hydroelectric dams will produce hundreds more megawatts for domestic consumption. …
Oil prices in Cambodia hit the highest of all time on Friday, with a liter of premium gasoline going for 1.45 U.S. dollars at all petrol stations in the capital.
The price is the highest ever if compared with the peak price of 1.41 U.S. dollars a liter in 2008 and once again in last March. …
Cambodia is considered “the most promising country” in the ASEAN community where Thai business entrepreneurs could set up trade and investment projects, according to a noted Thai academic and economist.
Roongrote Benjamasuthin, director of the University of Thai Chamber of Commerce’s ASEAN Business & Economic Center, has said that Thais transnational conglomerates and small- and medium-sized entrepreneurs now look on Cambodia as “the most promising” site for their projects and could help usher in the birth of an ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) by 2015. …
“We should take advantage of the geographical proximity between Thailand and Cambodia while the Thai government has planned to build and expand roads and railways to link the two neighboring countries.Part of these infrastructure would be serviceable when the AEC finally takes off in the next few years,” Roongrote said. …
Heavily subsidized prices for liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and natural gas for vehicles (NGV) in Thailand draw dozens of cars daily from Cambodia to refill their tanks in this Thai border town.
But complaints that too many Cambodians are getting a free ride, or rather a very cheap one, have led to authorities rationing gas to drivers from the neighboring country.
LPG, which accounts for most of the sales to Cambodian drivers, costs 18.13 baht a kilogram in Thailand. The price is scheduled to rise to 24.82 baht in April but that’s still far less than the 45 baht the fuel costs in Cambodia. …
The price of NGV is also subsidized to promote the use of natural gas. PTT, the national oil and gas conglomerate, sells NGV at 10.50 baht/kg while the actual cost is 15.14 baht. …
Utilities giant Electricite de France (EdF) is preparing to enter negotiations with Cambodia over the construction of a power plant to use up natural gas locked up in disputed waters off the country’s coast, France’s ambassador-in-waiting to Cambodia said on Tuesday.
Serge Mostura, who is still awaiting confirmation as ambassador, said that French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault told Prime Minister Hun Sen during a private meeting on Sunday that EdF was ready to sign a memorandum of intent to enter negotiations. …
Bangchak Petroleum, a majority state-owned oil refiner and retailer in Thailand, said it wants to open five petrol stations in Cambodia, with the first station opening in 2014, the Bangkok Post reported last week.
Tui Rutten, president of the Thai Business Council of Cambodia did not want to comment on the issue, but said generally, Bangchak is a big player trading in Thailand’s financial market and would do proper research before new investments. …
Cambodia spent more than $1.6 billion importing fuel oil and petrol last year, a figure 14.3 per cent higher than for 2011, the Ministry of Commerce said yesterday.
The money spent on importing 1.6 million tonnes of petrol and fuel oil – 100,000 tonnes more than in 2011 – reflects increased domestic consumption by the Kingdom’s industry sectors. …
Another reason is the increase in domestic transport, especially in the services sector, said Meng Saktheara, director general of the Ministry of Industry, Mines and Energy.
“The transport sector increased a lot last year, as you can see from the traffic congestion,” Meng Saktheara said. …
Chan Sophal said that the country’s recorded data on oil imports was still low compared to its actual consumption.
“A lot of oil is also smuggled, which the data does not record,” he said.
Cambodia had a trade deficit of $2.65 billion last year, according to the Ministry of Industry, Mines and Energy data.
The International Monetary Fund’s projection for Cambodia’s GDP growth this year is 6.7 per cent.
After closing the last of its 19 petrol stations in Cambodia in April 2010, Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) is again eyeing the country’s oil and gas (O&G) sector. This will see Chevron and its partners developing the country’s first offshore oil field this year.
According to Petronas president and CEO Tan Sri Shamsul Azhar Abbas, the Malaysian national oil company will deliberate on the merits of re-entering the Indochinese nation should the company be able to work out a win-win deal with the Cambodian authorities. …
Cambodia’s offshore oil fields are categorized under Blocks A to F, which are also claimed by Thailand. Both countries are negotiating how they will jointly capitalise on the O&G reserves within the Gulf of Thailand.
Onshore [sic], Cambodia was reported to have licensed blocks to state-run Vietnam Oil and Gas Group or PetroVietnam, and Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corp, or Jogmec. …
Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd president and CEO Dr Abd Hapiz Abdullah was quoted as saying that the company is planning to grow its regional presence in Myanmar and Cambodia from 2013.
Energy supplies will be more secure once territorial disputes between Thailand and Cambodia are resolved, Department of Mineral Fuels director-general Songpob Polchan said on Friday.
Mr Songpob said that the sooner Thailand and Cambodia are able to work out their differences, the sooner they can exploit natural gas reserves and ensure energy security, especially with energy consumption rising in both countries every year.
He said the border dispute around the Preah Vihear temple is unrelated to a separate maritime dispute. Even if the border problem has been settled and drilling concession has been granted, it will be another 10 years before the gas could be extracted. He urged the government to consider public sentiment on the issue. …
Cambodian Petrochemical Company and Sinomach China Perfect Machinery Industry Corp jointly announced on Friday to build the first oil refinery in Cambodia and the construction is expected to be completed at the end of 2015.
Zhang Sugang, president of Sinomach China Perfect Machinery Industry Corp, said the oil refinery will cost 2.3 billion U.S. dollars and it will take 36 months to be constructed on the 80- hectare area within the boundary of Preah Sihanouk province and Kampot province. …
“When the construction is completed, the plant will be capable to produce 5 million tons of oil a year,” he said after a signing ceremony here.
The country’s seabed is believed to be rich in oil and gas, but exploitation is not made yet. …
Sok An said that U.S.’ Chevron has invested about 150 million U. S. dollars for oil and gas exploration in Cambodia’s offshore Block A and it is estimated that the firm needs to invest another 600 million U.S. dollars to exploit oil and gas from the Block. …
LAST week marked the arrival and passing of 12/12/12, the Cambodian government’s original date for the commencement of oil extraction from the Block A oilfields in the Gulf of Thailand, with no activity on the site.
Chevron currently holds a 30 per cent interest in the block, according to a fact sheet on its website, which also says government approval and a final investment decision are expected to be finalised by the end of 2012. …
The United Nations Development Program and Cambodian Ministry of Industry, Mines and Energy on Thursday jointly held a workshop on Sustainable Energy for All ( SE4All) in order to discuss the future of sustainable energy in Cambodia.
The workshop, opened by Suy Sem, Minister of Industry, Mines and Energy, and UN Resident Coordinator Douglas Broderick, was attended by 80 people from various ministries, development partners, non-governmental organizations and civil society. …
The first well drilled by a major Chinese company looking for oil and gas in Cambodian waters has been completed, though hydrocarbons in the firms offshore block are proving elusive, an official at the Cambodian National Petroleum Authority (CNPA) has said. …
