Monday, March 31, 2008

Petroleum Authority Talks About the Price of Oil

29th March 2008
By Sok Serey
Radio Free Asia
Translated from Khmer by Khmerization
On the web at http://khmerization.blogspot.com

An official from the Petroleum Authority of Cambodia on Friday said that even if Cambodia can extract natural oil and gases from the Cambodian seabeds in 2011, the high prices of petrol in Cambodia will not drop lower than the prices of petrol in the world markets.

Mr Te Duong Dara, Secretary General of the Petroleum Authority of Cambodia, in a press conference in Phnom Penh on the management of oil and gas revenues for the alleviation of poverty in Cambodia, said that Cambodia cannot isolate itself from the rest of the world, so the local prices of oil and oil exports will have to depend on world market prices.

He stressed that the prices of Cambodian oil cannot be set differently from other countries of the world. Otherwise, all other countries will flock to buy oil from Cambodia and the Cambodian oil reserves will dry out very soon.

In relation to the above issue Mr Sok Hach, an economist based in Cambodia, declined to make any comments regarding the issue.

But Mr Son Chhay, a parliamentarian from the opposition Sam Rainsy Party, said there were so much secrecy regarding the oil issues. He said: “We have observed that there were so many hidden secrets regarding the oil explorations because the agreements made between the government and the oil exploration companies have never been released to the public. What we are very concerned about is the embezzlement of oil revenues by the persons who control those oil revenues.

Mr Te Duong Dara’s comments were made at a time when there are anticipations that Cambodia can extract oil and gases for the first time from Block A in the next 3 years- that is in 2011.

He did not mention how much oil and gases can be extracted and how much revenues can be generated. But he noted that Cambodia’s partners in the oil exploration were not only the US oil company Chevron but they include the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank and some donor countries as well.

Based on the research conducted by the United Nations, the World Bank and other institutions in 2007, the oil reserves under the Cambodian seabeds were estimated to be about 2 billion barrels and natural gases at 283 million litres, which will generate revenues to the tune of 6 billion US dollars in the next two decades, based on the world market prices.

Other than Block A oil wells that Cambodia plans to extract for the first time in 2011, Cambodia has contracted with Singaporean and Malaysian companies to extract oil from Block B, with Hong Kong and Macau companies to extract oil from Block C, with Chinese companies in Block D and with Indonesian and Kuwaiti companies, Energy, in Block E.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

“We have observed that there were so many hidden secrets regarding the oil explorations because the agreements made between the government and the oil exploration companies have never been released to the public. What we are very concerned about is the embezzlement of oil revenues by the persons who control those oil revenues.”

Don't think many government in the democratic world would relase all pieces of document agreement to public except the assumption figures of what might be expected from the rpoject.

Surely members of parliment have seen the agreement.

Anonymous said...

Hey, we are entitled to have classified information just as any other government on the planet, alright? And that don't have shit to do with democracy, get it?

Anonymous said...

"Cambodia cannot isolate itself from the rest of the world, so the local prices of oil and oil exports will have to depend on world market prices."

Te Duong Dara is asking dirt poor Cambodia to behave economically like China, US, Japan, European...? This is impossible and Cambodia economy will collapse and the burden of billion and billion of dollars that Cambodia owed to the world can never be repaid! Base on the words of Te Duong Dara and Cambodia is a Nigeria in the making and the unrest and war will visit Cambodia soon or later!

Whatever the fucken revenue from the oil must be used to rebuild Cambodian infrastructures, rebuild Cambodian government institutions and educational institutions, and rebuild the whole Cambodian economy from the ground up…rebuild until Cambodia can compete with the rest of the world! This mean Cambodia must have affordable cheap oil to fuel Cambodian economy for Cambodian local population! It is the fucken stupid Cambodian government job to reserve a portion of the fucken oil to support Cambodian growing economy!

This is not the issue about the entitlement to the fucken oil money but this is the fucken issue about putting Cambodia in the right path by rebuilding Cambodia into a civilized nation which can contribute back to the world! If this mother fucker AH Te Duong Dara want dirt poor Cambodian people to pay 4 dollars a gallon whose income is 30 to 50 dollars a month which barely can’t afford to put food on the table and they can’t even afford to send their children to school to get a decent education! So what does this about Cambodian future? The Cambodian people will have one fuck up future for sure!

I curse AH TE DOUNG DARA and I will see him in hell!

Anonymous said...

11:45am, you mean you are going to hell as well? how will you see him in hell?

Anonymous said...

To 3:39PM

Hey! The fact that AH TE DOUNG DARA is committing a sin against dirt poor Cambodian people and If God send me to hell for cursing him and I will definitely want to him in hell too!

Does that answer your stupid question?