Significant Oil Reserves In Disputed Temple Area

[george]

This is an old article a member sent to me. Interesting part below marked with bold below.

Cambodian offshore oil deposits may exceed expectations

PHNOM PENH: -- Cambodian offshore oilfields may yet yield millions of barrels more oil than previously estimated, a senior government official said Monday.

Speaking at a seminar in Phnom Penh on the country's oil and gas assets, Cambodian National Petroleum Authority director-general Te Duong Tara said exploration by US oil giant Chevron in its Block A allocation alone indicated that its initial estimate of around 400 million barrels had been too conservative.

Block A is one of six demarkated areas. Japanese, Chinese, South Korean, Malaysian, Indonesian, Singaporean and Thai interests are also involved in Cambodian offshore oil exploration, Tara Said.

'According to estimates before drilling five wells we said that Block A has perhaps 400 million barrels and three to five GPS of gas. This was the previous estimate, but a subsequent tendency increases that from 400 to 700 million barrels,' he said.

'Chevron is still drilling. It has not announced the final figure yet. I think maybe in May or June we can know about everything and talk about a real figure.'

Chevron is the largest investor in Cambodian offshore oil reserves, Tara said, and has so far poured around 130 million dollars into exploration.

With Block A the only block so far to be significantly explored, it remained unclear whether other blocks would also yield higher than previously estimated, and if so by how much.

Investment opportunities in the country's offshore blocks were all but closed, Tara said, and negotiations with a final small Chinese company he declined to name looked set to fill available slots there.

However Tara said Cambodia's oil boom was only just beginning and the government was already looking at exploring significant potential onshore reserves in a range of provinces including central provinces of Kampong Chhnang and Pursat, as well as Kampong Thom and the Thai border provinces of Battambang and Preah Vihear.

'Including Total and a European company there are already five or six international companies negotiating with the Cambodian government on this potential,' he said.

Tara said the Cambodian government was taking a long-term view to oil investment regarding its potential to boost the national economy but lacked the finances to develop its oil and gas reserves without foreign investment.

'Cambodia is poor. Finding oil provides huge potential for the national economy. We intend to use this revenue for the purposes of our national interest,' he said.

World Bank estimates had previously put Cambodia's total offshore oil potential at up to 2 billion barrels, the extraction of which the United Nations Development Program has said could potentially double the nation's annual GDP and significantly reduce the country's current dependence on foreign aid.

-- Source: http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/ene...ed_expectations

[Svenn]

the piece of land they're arguing over is at most a few acres (or hectares, whatever you imperialists use), and is on the edge of a cliff, so I can't imagine there'd be any oil up there at all. at the base of the cliff is probably where it's at, which is already cambodia.

Careful to remember the barbaric inhabitants of that area, preah vihear was the last holdout of the Khmer Rouge. This general romanticization Westerners have of Cambodia shouldn't lead us to have sympathy for those 'poor' Khmer like the article wants us to think. That country has had some serious morality problems even since Angkor, not to say Thailand doesn't as well.

[PhilHarries]

As far as I see it the only connection between the Preah Vihear dispute and oil reserves is that any settlement is likely to set a precedent for the disputed offshore area in the gulf.

btw Acres are the imperial measure of area, hectares are metric (sorry can't be ar5ed to look up the conversion).

[ubonjoe]

Note that this says provinces.

"Thai border provinces of Battambang and Preah Vihear"

As a previous post said you are talking about a very small area that is in dispute.

[EvilDrSomkid]

Cambodian offshore oil deposits may exceed expectations

However Tara said Cambodia's oil boom was only just beginning and the government was already looking at exploring significant potential onshore reserves in a range of provinces including central provinces of Kampong Chhnang and Pursat, as well as Kampong Thom and the Thai border provinces of Battambang and Preah Vihear.

'Including Total and a European company there are already five or six international companies negotiating with the Cambodian government on this potential,' he said.

Tara said the Cambodian government was taking a long-term view to oil investment regarding its potential to boost the national economy but lacked the finances to develop its oil and gas reserves without foreign investment.

'Cambodia is poor. Finding oil provides huge potential for the national economy. We intend to use this revenue for the purposes of our national interest,' he said.

World Bank estimates had previously put Cambodia's total offshore oil potential at up to 2 billion barrels, the extraction of which the United Nations Development Program has said could potentially double the nation's annual GDP and significantly reduce the country's current dependence on foreign aid.

-- Source: http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/ene...ed_expectations

Who are they trying to fool? Not huge potential for the national eceonomy, but for Hun Sen and his family. Regular Cambodians will continue to be poor. Just look at other developing nations with oil. There is NO improvement in the poor people's situation. Nigeria?

The eventual oil boom in Cambodia will benefit the rich and party brass, exclusively.

National interest, my ass. YOUR interest.

[GuestHouse]

While I'm not a sabre rattler I think we should all enjoy the novilty of the Thai military point its guns at someone other than the Thais.

The fact that the Cambodians are armed and likely to return the compliment of any gun fire is a major deterent to a military that normally has students and office workers in its sights.

[Samuian]

While I'm not a sabre rattler I think we should all enjoy the novilty of the Thai military point its guns at someone other than the Thais.

The fact that the Cambodians are armed and likely to return the compliment of any gun fire is a major deterent to a military that normally has students and office workers in its sights.

Well, well, well can't agree more with this!

But however, I cannot imagine the Authors highly artistic ability to bring a.) the Prea Vihar conflict and b.) Oil/Gas Resources onshore or offshore into the equation, ti simply escapes my wildest imagination!

What does this supposed to tell the audience?

"Go and raid Cambodia!" ?

"get the Oil"?

I don't get it...

Edited October 22, 2008 by Samuian

[Payboy]

Significant Oil Reserves In Disputed Temple Area, PREAH VIHEAR ISSUE AN OIL ISSUE?

guess it's time to make that phone call to "dubya-the-decider".....

one more invasion before he leaves office....

Edited October 22, 2008 by Payboy

[Gravelrash]

Cambodian offshore oil deposits may exceed expectations

However Tara said Cambodia's oil boom was only just beginning and the government was already looking at exploring significant potential onshore reserves in a range of provinces including central provinces of Kampong Chhnang and Pursat, as well as Kampong Thom and the Thai border provinces of Battambang and Preah Vihear.

'Including Total and a European company there are already five or six international companies negotiating with the Cambodian government on this potential,' he said.

Tara said the Cambodian government was taking a long-term view to oil investment regarding its potential to boost the national economy but lacked the finances to develop its oil and gas reserves without foreign investment.

'Cambodia is poor. Finding oil provides huge potential for the national economy. We intend to use this revenue for the purposes of our national interest,' he said.

World Bank estimates had previously put Cambodia's total offshore oil potential at up to 2 billion barrels, the extraction of which the United Nations Development Program has said could potentially double the nation's annual GDP and significantly reduce the country's current dependence on foreign aid.

-- Source: http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/ene...ed_expectations

Who are they trying to fool? Not huge potential for the national eceonomy, but for Hun Sen and his family. Regular Cambodians will continue to be poor. Just look at other developing nations with oil. There is NO improvement in the poor people's situation. Nigeria?

The eventual oil boom in Cambodia will benefit the rich and party brass, exclusively.

National interest, my ass. YOUR interest.

You are no doubt correct. Unfortunately the lure of politics rarely has anything to do with the public good or serving ones country. I would suspect likewise that whatever form the next government here takes it will be yet another rerun of the same old script. All the Wallys over on the news forum will end up feeling pretty stupid eventually even if they never admit it.