Cambodia seeks to resume talks with Thailand about disputed oil and gas zone

30 August 2011

PHNOM PENH (BNO NEWS) -- Cambodia is looking to resume talks with neighboring Thailand to resolve overlapping maritime claims in the Gulf of Thailand, the Cambodian National Petroleum Authority (CNPA) said in a statement on Tuesday.

The Cambodian government body said it has "a firm commitment to finding an equitable and transparent resolution" to the overlapping claims area which consists of a 27,000 square kilometers (10,425 square miles) stretch of seabed which is considered rich in oil and gas.

"The [government] would welcome the resumption of open and official negotiation on this issue and will pursue such a course as soon as practicable," the statement added.

Fillon’s visit payoff: French Total receives oil exploration concession

Fillon, tu n'es qu'un F-I-L-O-U!

05 July 2011
Everyday.com.kh
Translated from Khmer by Soch

The ministry of Economic and Finance indicated that the Cambodian government handed out an oil exploration concession to the French Total company. The concession is located inside the overlap sea between Cambodia and Thailand. In return, Total promises to provide social funds for the development of that zone [KI-Media note: social funds are nothing more than under the table corruption money provided to the Hun Xen’s regime]. The spokesman for the ministry of Economic and Finance indicated that Yves Lebail, the deputy-director of Total and the regional deputy director of Total in Cambodia, Vietnam and China, met with Comrade Keat Chhon, the minister of Economic and Finance, in Phnom Penh on 01 July 2011 to discuss the cooperation and the investment for oil exploration in Cambodia, as well as to discuss about social funds provided by the Total company. The ministry official said that the Cambodian government and Total are determined to use these oil social funds for social developments that serve the interest of the Cambodian people [KI-Media note: meaning these social funds will be used to grease the corrupt Hun Xen’s regime officials]

Minister Fails To Explain Spending in Oil Revenue

Xok An (right) Council Minister of Cambodia. (Photo: AP)

Chun Sakada, VOA Khmer
Phnom Penh Friday, 25 June 2010

The use of funds “has no transparency, no bank account and no procedures for keeping this fund,” Son Chhay said

Council Minister Sok An has replied to a National Assembly inquiry about oil and gas development, saying nearly two dozen companies had been given licenses and oil giant Total had paid $28 million for exploration rights.

But an opposition lawmaker said Friday the response was inadequate because it did not go on to explain where the millions were spent.

In a June 9 response to Sam Rainsy Party lawmaker Son Chhay, Sok An said 23 companies, including Chevron and Total, had received exploration agreements for oil and gas.

“But some of them left Cambodia, because our oil and gas resources could not be developed for trade,” Sok An wrote.

Of $28 million paid by Total to the government, $20 million was paid as a signing bonus, $6 million went to a social fund and $2 million went to the “administration process,” Sok An wrote, though he did not elaborate.

“The payment by companies were put into the account of the Cambodian National Bank, which is administered by the Ministry of Economy and Finance, and the Cambodian National Petroleum Authority. There was no payments directed to an individual, such as a government official.”

Cambodia’s management of its natural resources revenue has come under increased scrutiny lately, with environmental and development groups warning it lacks the proper mechanisms to utilize an expected upsurge in revenue.

Australian mining giant BHP Billiton is under investigation at the US Securities and Exchange Commission for possible corruption in Cambodia, after it paid millions of dollars into what it claims was as similar social fund, for which there is no apparent accountability.

“I cannot accept this response,” Son Chhay said of Sok An’s letter Friday. “This response does not show transparency in managing payment from companies.”

The use of funds “has no transparency, no bank account and no procedures for keeping this fund,” he said. “This response means there are irregularities and no transparency.”

Ensuring aid transparency in the absence of political will

Wednesday, June 02, 2010
Letter to The Phnom Penh Post

Dear editor

An interesting platform has been set for the Cambodia Development Cooperation Forum by recent revelations of Total’s 8 million dollar contribution to a “social fund” as part of an oil deal with the Royal Government of Cambodia and allegations of corruption against the Australian BHP Billiton and Securency companies. The new Anti-Corruption Law is no ‘magic formula’ to end corruption in Cambodia rather, the manner of its passing as well as its content, serve only to exacerbate suspicions of an absence of the political will needed to tackle corruption.

As the NGOs list suggested govt reform article in last Wednesday’s Phnom Penh Post firmly established, the issue of transparency must be top of the donor’s agenda at this week’s meeting. However, it is not enough that the donors seek undertakings from the Royal Government of Cambodia (RGC) in relation to transparency rather they too must acknowledge their own responsibilities with regard to transparency and apply those same standards to themselves and to their practices.

The Accra Agenda for Action, which was concluded at the 2008 High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness in Ghana, considers the effect of corruption on aid and places the burden of transparency on donors of aid through a number of duties, as follows:

“publicly disclosing regular, detailed and timely information on volume, allocation and, when available, results of development expenditure to enable more accurate budget, accounting and audit by developing countries”

With this in mind, the donors who attend this week’s meetings must remember that, once the pledges have been made and the cheques have been signed, the real work begins. It is no longer enough for donors to publicise their aid through the provision of figures. As impressive as these figures sound - $951.5 million dollars in 2008 and $689 million dollars in 2007 – they do not provide much information by which to measure progress. Accordingly, the donors must not only secure undertakings from the RGC that they will abide by stringent accounting and reporting procedures but that they, the donors, must also act to ensure the integrity of their aid packages with the publication of information. In this regard, they must publicise their respective aid agreements with the RGC as well as, and to the greatest extent possible, information concerning the priorities, prerogatives, projects and programs that those packages seek to put in place.
By applying stringent transparency procedures, donors can empower four very important watchdogs in the battle against corruption in recipient countries, as follows:

• The intended beneficiaries: The principle of aid transparency reflects the fact that an informed population decreases the vulnerability of aid to corruption. Donors must act to ensure that the Cambodian people are informed of the amount of aid that the RGC receives but also what this aid is expected to achieve;
• The media: The English language press in Cambodia in particular has proved itself to be capable of embarrassing the RGC. The recent publication on 22 February of a leaked document by the Phnom Penh Post which outlined RGC plans for the funding of military units by private companies and individuals provides a good example of the role that the independent media in Cambodia can play. By ensuring transparency and publicizing information as to the aid given to the RGC, the donor community can ensure that if the entire proceeds of aid are not accounted for the media will be in a position to ask some questions and, if aid has indeed been diverted, to name and shame the individuals in question;
• NGOs: The global economic crisis has ensured that there is less aid available internationally. One of the knock-on effects of this is that NGOs are likely to exact a greater degree of scrutiny on the effectiveness of the aid that does remain. With the provision of adequate information, NGOs will be an important ally to donors in the battle to protect their aid from corruption;
• Taxpayers: Just as an informed population in recipient countries is likely to decrease the possibility of corruption, an informed population in donor countries – whose tax payments make up the aid packages – can ensure that “dead aid” to recipient countries can have political consequences at home too.

This letter does not seek to divert attention from the obligations of the RGC in terms of transparency where aid is concerned. However, in a system where corruption has flourished and, as is likely to be the case, will continue to do so, it is time for the donor community to act to ensure that the aid they provide goes to the intended beneficiaries and not towards widening the gap between the haves and the have-nots. By empowering these important watchdogs through the provision of detailed information relating to aid donors can do a great deal to ensure the integrity of aid in the absence of a willing partner in the RGC.

Yours sincerely,

Ou Virak
Cambodian Center for Human Rights

Don't lecture Dr. Hoon Xhen about transparency, he learnt everything from Pol Pot's and Uncle Ho's Universities already!

Cambodia tells donors to quit lecturing on fiscal transparency

May 26, 2010
DPA

'Global Witness is a group of thieves, they cooperate with foreign agencies' - Hun Xen, leader of Cambodia's family of the thieves of the nation

Phnom Penh - Prime Minister Hun Sen told a conference on good mining practices Wednesday that foreign organisations must stop giving advice on how to manage expected revenues.

'This is not the hour to talk about spending the money,' Hun Sen told several hundred business executives, diplomats and civil society members in a speech opening the two-day meeting.

'And don't talk too much looking on Cambodia as a child; the (government) is not a child,' he said. 'So do not advise too much.'

In recent years, foreign companies have signed dozens of exploration deals in industries from oil and gas to bauxite and gold.

Critics charge that the deals are opaque, with revenues failing to reach the national budget.

Hun Sen also lashed out at Britain-based Global Witness, which has published highly critical reports on the government's handling of state assets, including forestry and mining.

'Global Witness is a group of thieves, they cooperate with foreign agencies,' he charged. 'We have no money (from extractive industries) but they teach us about how to spend the money, and even blame us for stealing it.'

Global Witness spokesman George Boden last month urged donors to pressure Phnom Penh to account for millions of dollars in contract bonuses from French oil firm Total SA and Australian mining company BHP Billiton Ltd.

Boden said there was no sign that the bulk of the money had reached the budget.

'Donors must use the upcoming round of donor-government meetings to ask some tough questions and get some answers,' Boden said.

The government has said the money from Total and BHP Billiton went into a social fund, although details of that fund remain unclear.

BHP Billiton is currently under investigation by US and British regulatory authorities for possible violations of anti-graft legislation reportedly committed in Cambodia.

Hun Sen's speech came ahead of next week's donor conference at which pledges are made. In 2009, Cambodia received about 950 million dollars from foreign governments, roughly half its annual budget.

Cambodia is ranked as one of the world's most corrupt countries. It was listed last year in 158th place by graft watchdog Transparency International, with 1st place going to the least-corrupt country. Only 19 nations were ranked worse.

More tea money went into the pocket of Hun Xen's corrupt regime?

Extracting the dollar figures

Friday, 14 May 2010
Steve Finch
The Phnom Penh Post

COMPANIES involved in Cambodia’s extractive industries have revealed further information about controversial payments to the government, as more detailed revenue figures showed the state received more than 9 billion riels (US$2.25 million) from the sector last year.

Following an announcement by Australian miner BHP Billiton that it was conducting an internal investigation of possible graft violations widely believe to have taken place in Cambodia, the French energy giant Total responded this week to revelations made by Prime Minister Hun Sen last month that it had paid $28 million as part of a deal for offshore Area III in October.

The figure appeared to contradict an official disclosure by a Ministry of Economy and Finance official in March that showed payments of $26 million were paid in January, but Total spokeswoman Phenelope Semavoine said by email Tuesday that the additional $2 million “will be made at a later date”.

She added that Total would co-manage a social fund programme for education and health in the Kingdom, without giving further details.

Total’s response comes on the heels of a report indicating that the government received $1.45 million from the mining sector and $800,000 from the oil and gas industry last year, the first year the government has made public official payments from the extractives industries.

Although the government still has not published complete 2009 revenues from the sector as part of TOFE (state financial operations notice) on the Finance Ministry website, the Post obtained a presentation from last month’s Oxfam America conference that showed the full-year payments.

Chevron spokesman Gareth Johnstone declined to comment Thursday on whether the US firm had made similar payments to the state as part of its involvement in offshore Block A, citing “contractual arrangements” and “commercially confidential information”.

Southern Gold, which is exploring for minerals in western Cambodia, said late Wednesday it had not made any payments to the government as part of its concession agreements.

“We have good relationship[s] with our joint-venture partners and have regular audits, doubled when we consider our JV partners audits and checks,” Cambodia representative Grant Thomas said by email.

“We at Southern Gold do not pay those types of payments [or] fees.”

Sacrava's Political Cartoon: Hye-Hor 5 Bora

Cartoon by Sacrava (on the web at http://sacrava.blogspot.com)

Envoy to UK aims criticism at watchdog

Monday, 03 May 2010
Vong Sokheng and Will Baxter
The Phnom Penh Post

THE ambassador to the United Kingdom has accused Global Witness of pursuing “a ferocious politically motivated campaign against the government of Cambodia” after the international watchdog said a US$28 million payment made by a French oil company lacked transparency.

Hor Nambora issued a statement on Friday condemning the group, one day after it said the issue of extractive industries payments must be addressed when donors meet with the government in June.

“The people of Cambodia and governments who give development assistance have a legitimate right to know what happened to that money,” Global Witness said in a statement.

Eleanor Nichol, a campaigner for Global Witness, said Sunday that the group stood by the statement, and added: “The easiest way to clarify this issue would be for the Cambodian government to publicly issue details on this payment and others made by companies.”

Penelope Semavoine, a spokeswoman for Total, confirmed last Thursday that the company had paid a $20 million signature bonus in January to the Cambodia National Petroleum Authority and had earmarked an additional $8 million for a social development fund in order to secure exploration rights to the 2,430-square-kilometre offshore block designated Area III.

Prime Minister Hun Sen referred to the Total deal in a speech last week, comparing it to a payment he said had been made by mining giant BHP Billiton, which has recently launched an internal inquiry that some have speculated concerns its work in Cambodia.

Global Witness has been a frequent target of Hor Nambora, who routinely goes after groups and media outlets he accuses of being unfairly critical of the Cambodian government.

In his most recent statement, the ambassador said, “It’s time Global Witness was stopped in its tracks and forced to explain and justify its campaign of smear and hatred against the Cambodian government and Cambodian people.”

Baby Hor embarks on a barking mission on behalf of Papa Hor's boss ... yet again

Ambassador Condemns Pressure Group: Smear Campaign

April 30, 2010
Source: Hor 5 Bora, Cambodian embassy in the UK

The Ambassador of Cambodia to the United Kingdom, Nambora Hor, says the pressure group Global Witness is in danger of losing all credibility as it continues to pursue a ferocious politically-motivated campaign against the Cambodian government.

“Global Witness is now a loose cannon spouting ever more irresponsible statements which shouldn’t be tolerated by the international community,” he said.

The Ambassador’s comments follow Global Witness questioning a US$28 million payment made to the Cambodian government by the French oil company, Total; Global Witness is demanding that the issue should be top of the agenda when the group of countries providing international aid to Cambodia meet in June.

Ambassador Hor said: “It’s time Global Witness was stopped in its tracks and forced to explain and justify its campaign of smear and hatred against the Cambodian Government and the Cambodian People.”

The Ambassador challenged the pressure group to a debate in London or elsewhere. “Global Witness should not be allowed to continue peddling persistent lies and misleading information about the lawfully-elected government of Prime Minister Hun Sen. The unsavoury tactics of this organisation need to be exposed for all to see.”

The Ambassador said he was confident all donor countries to Cambodia as well as other international partners would continue to support the political, economic, social and judicial reforms which had been positively implemented by the Government of Prime Minister Hun Sen.

He said it was those countries providing financial backing to Global Witness which should cut their funding to the organisation with immediate effect. He also urged nations in the developing world to ban representatives of Global Witness from entering their countries.

Sacrava's Political Cartoon: Total

Cartoon by Sacrava (on the web at http://sacrava.blogspot.com)

Scrutiny of exploration rights payments in Cambodia urged

Saturday, May 01, 2010
ABC Radio Australia

An environmental watchdog is urging Cambodia's donors to scrutinize multi-million-dollar payments by French oil company Total to secure the rights to explore an offshore area.

The call by the London-based Global Witness comes after Cambodia's premier Hun Sen announced a 28-million-dollar contract with Total on Tuesday.

Hun Sen says eight million dollars of that money would go towards a "social fund".

Earlier this week Hun Sen denied that Anglo-Australian mining giant BHP Billiton had paid a large bribe for an exploration contract, saying that money had also gone into a "social fund".

Total has won the right to search for oil and natural gas in Cambodia's offshore "Block 3" in the Gulf of Thailand.

Global Witness says questions regarding oil and mining payments made to the Cambodian government should top the bill at a meeting of aid donors in June.

Total confirms $8m social fund [-More tea money?]

Friday, 30 April 2010
James O'Toole
The Phnom Penh Post

FRENCH energy company Total confirmed Thursday that it paid the government US$28 million, including $8 million for a “social development programme”, to secure rights to drill for oil offshore in an area claimed by both Thailand and Cambodia.

Penelope Semavoine, a Total spokeswoman in Paris, said Thursday the company had signed the agreement in October with the Cambodia National Petroleum Authority (CNPA) to explore the 2,430-square-kilometre offshore block designated Area III. The company, she added, paid a $20 million signature bonus to the CNPA in January and is planning an $8 million social development fund.

Prime Minister Hun Sen referred to the Total deal in a speech at the Government-Private Sector Forum in Phnom Penh on Tuesday. Rebutting media reports that mining giant BHP Billiton paid bribes to the Cambodian government, the premier said the firm had merely contributed to a social development fund. Total, he noted, “also paid this kind of money”.

Speculation has seized on Cambodia as the origin of an ongoing graft inquiry at BHP in part because of a $2.5 million payment to the government that the company said was for a social fund but that Minister of Water Resources Lim Kean Hor described in 2007 as “tea money”, or an unofficial fee.

Semavoine said Total’s $8 million social fund payment will be “administrated by committees that will include representatives from the CNPA and Total”.

“That will be a social development programme aimed at improving general health, education, culture, and welfare for the people of Cambodia,” she said. Exploration of Area III, she added, will not be undertaken until Cambodia and Thailand reach an agreement on their maritime boundaries.

A deal for the onshore Block 26, which covers an area of 22,050 square kilometres from Phnom Penh to the Vietnamese border, is still under discussion, Semavoine said.

Total contract with Cambodia needs scrutiny: watchdog

Fri, 30 April 2010
AFP

An environmental watchdog Friday urged Cambodia's donors to scrutinize multi-million-dollar payments by French oil company Total to secure the rights to explore an offshore area.

London-based Global Witness called on donors to "ask some tough questions and get some answers" about petroleum concession revenues, after Cambodian premier Hun Sen on Tuesday announced a 28-million-dollar contract with Total.

"We welcome the prime minister's openness on this latest round of oil payments," Global Witness campaigner George Boden said in a statement.

"But we still don't know whether the money from Total has turned up in national accounts because the information has not been made public," he added.

Total has won the right to search for oil and natural gas in Cambodia's offshore "Block 3" in the Gulf of Thailand.

While disclosing the price paid by Total, Hun Sen on Tuesday said that eight million dollars of the money would go towards a "social fund".

Hun Sen also denied that Anglo-Australian mining giant BHP Billiton had paid a large bribe for an exploration contract in Cambodia, saying that money had also gone into a social fund.

Global Witness said "questions regarding oil and mining payments made to the Cambodian government should top the bill" at a meeting of aid donors in June.

Foreign aid to Cambodia will top one billion dollars in 2010 when international donors make their pledges during the June meeting, said a local media report citing Finance Minister Keat Chhon.

Following the discovery of oil in 2005, Cambodia was quickly feted as the region's next potential petro-state.

But concerns have also been raised over how Cambodia -- one of the world's most corrupt countries -- will use its new-found oil and gas wealth.

In a February 2009 report, Global Witness said earnings from oil, gas and minerals were being "jeopardised by high-level corruption, nepotism and patronage".

Sacrava's Political Cartoon: Social Funds Club

Cartoon by Sacrava (on the web at http://sacrava.blogspot.com)

Total pays Cambodia 28 mln dollars for oil exploration: PM [-More "social funds" revealed by Hun Xen]

27/04/2010
AFP

French oil company Total has paid 28 million dollars for the rights to explore an area in the Gulf of Thailand, Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen said Tuesday.

The Cambodian government, during a visit by Hun Sen to Paris, announced its decision in July last year to grant Total the right to search for oil and natural gas in the country's offshore "Block 3".

Disclosing the price paid by Total for the first phase of the search for oil in the area, Hun Sen said that eight million dollars of the money would go towards a "social fund".

"Total offered the highest (bid) among the companies," he said.

Total will pay an additional 20 million dollars if it starts drilling for oil in the offshore area, Hun Sen added.

At the same time the premier denied Anglo-Australian mining giant BHP Billiton paid a large bribe for an exploration contract in Cambodia, saying that money had also gone into a social fund.

Total "also has paid this kind of money," Hun Sen said during a meeting between the government and private sectors.

Following the discovery of oil in 2005, Cambodia was quickly feted as the region's next potential petro-state, but production has stalled as the government and Chevron appear to have failed to agree over revenue sharing.

Hun Sen said earlier this month he would terminate his country's contract with Chevron if the US energy giant does not begin oil production from offshore fields by late 2012.

Concerns have also been raised over how Cambodia -- one of the world's most corrupt countries -- would use its new-found oil and gas wealth.

In spite of Te Duong Dara's denial, Hun Sen's regime to sign mainland oil and gas deal after the election with France and China

France, China to sign oil and gas deal with Cambodia

Phnom Penh, Jun 13, 2008 (Asia Pulse Data Source via COMTEX) -- France's oil and gas company TOTAL and China National Offshore Oil Corporation CNOOC are expected to sign a deal with Cambodia to explore oil and gas on the mainland of Cambodia.

The signing ceremony will take place this year, following the conclusion of Cambodia's parliamentary election scheduled on July 27.

Currently, other oil and gas companies in the world such as Moeco, Jogmec, GS Gallex, Pan Orient and Inpex are working with Cambodian National Petroleum Authority (CNPA) to reach agreements on oil and gas exploration in the country.

Oil Contracts Remain a 'Mystery': Lawmaker

By Chun Sakada, VOA Khmer
Original report of Phnom Penh
12 June 2008

Cambodian National Petroleum Authority denied to comment on media reports Thursday that two companies were close to signing drilling contracts for onshore oil exploration.

France's Total and the government Chinese national Offshore Oil Corp near deals for onshore exploration, the Cambodia Daily reported Thursday.

Petroleum authority chief Te Doung Dara would not confirm the report.

Sok Sina, an independent economic analyst, said the government should show the contracts to the public for consideration before signing them.

Eng Chhay Ieng, secretary-general of the Sam Rainsy Party, called the agreement a "mystery" related to corruption.

"Because we are the MPs, want to know the agreement," he said, "and the government must show us what they will do and what the meaning of the agreement is."

Cambodian motorists highlighted in TOTAL motor field race

Motocross riders race during the Total International Motocross Championship in Phnom Penh March 11, 2007 . REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea

March 12, 2007

Cambodian competitors were highlighted in the TOTAL Cup cross-country motorcycle race, which ended in Phnom Penh on Sunday, local media said on Monday.

New Zealand, Thai and French riders won the golden, silver and bronze titles of Group A, two from Cambodia and one from the Philippines won the titles of Group B, and three from Cambodia won the titles of Group C, said the Sin Chew Daily.

Altogether 36 riders from the United States, Britain, France, New Zealand, Thailand, the Philippines and Cambodia competed in the race in the suburb of Phnom Penh. Half of them were from Cambodia.

The Royal Australian-New Zealand Bank was the main sponsor for the race.

Source: Xinhua