Oil and gas explorer KrisEnergy on Wednesday said it has signed an agreement with Cambodian government to develop nation's first oil field in Cambodia Block A in the Gulf of Thailand.
KrisEnergy, the operator of the Cambodia Block A since 2014, plans to develop the Apsara area, where there is potential for oil and gas to be trapped.
As part of the agreement, Cambodia government will hold a 5 percent participating interest in Cambodia Block A while the remaining will be held by KrisEnergy, the company said in a joint press release on Wednesday.
"Producing Cambodia's first oil in its offshore waters will be a major step along our steady road to economic development and national prosperity and is aligned to the government's key development goals," said H.E. Meng Saktheara, chairman of the inter-ministerial committee for Block A in a statement.
KrisEnergy has 60 days to declare a final investment decision to formally launch the Apsara project, which is expected to take up to 24 months to produce first oil.
Apsara marks only the first phase of the development of Cambodia Block A and there remains further potential in other geological trends within the contract area for future investigation, KrisEnergy's Chief Operating Officer Kelvin Tang said.
KrisEnergy is the operator of Cambodia Block A, which covers 3,083 square kilometers over the Khmer Basin in the Gulf of Thailand.
As a preliminary estimate, the company expects the first platform A to commence at a gross production rate of approximately 8,000 barrels of oil per day.
KrisEnergy's stock was last traded at S$0.121 on August 22 before it was halted from trading.
