Cambodia to pump oil in 2012

A Cambodian man fills a motorbike's fuel tank along a street in Phnom Penh on July 1, 2010. Cambodia will begin pumping oil for the first time in December 2012 as it looks to tap the potential of its offshore reserves, the government said on July 1, 2010. -- PHOTO: AFP

PHNOM PENH - CAMBODIA said on Thursday it will begin pumping oil for the first time in December 2012 as it looks to tap the potential of its offshore reserves.

Deputy Prime Minister Sok An, who is also chairman of the Cambodian National Petroleum Authority, said the 'first drop of oil production' would start in two years.

Cambodia was feted as South-east Asia's next petro-state after oil was discovered there in 2005, but production stalled amid apparent wrangling between the government and US energy giant Chevron over revenue sharing. Prime Minister Hun Sen warned the oil company in April that he would terminate its contract if the offshore fields had not begun pumping by late 2012.

The nation is sitting on an estimated hundreds of millions of barrels of crude and three times as much natural gas. But it remains unclear how much can actually be recovered, or if potential revenue would be used to benefit Cambodia. The premier has warned it was 'highly premature' to estimate how much oil the undersea reserves might hold.

Last year, a report by London-based corruption watchdog Global Witness criticised Chevron for failing to disclose the amount of money it allegedly paid to secure rights to drill for Cambodia's offshore oil.

The report, called 'Country for Sale,' said revenues from Cambodia's oil and mineral wealth were 'jeopardised by high-level corruption, nepotism and patronage' in allocating and managing the assets. Mr Hun Sen has repeatedly dismissed the allegations. -- AFP