Colleagues,

Thought these pieces from Platts dated 14th and 15th August 
might be of interest

Best wishes - Charles

Charles Gurdon
Menas Associates

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Cambodia, Thailand seek E&P pact on shared area

Thailand and Cambodia hope
to firm up production-sharing agreements
soon for oil/gas exploration in their 27,000
sq km Overlapping Claims Area in the Gulf
of Thailand, considered to be "highly prospective"
for hydrocarbons, Te Duong Tara,
director general of the Cambodian National
Petroleum Authority, said Aug 14.
So far, only one of nine blocks in the
overlapping claims area has been awarded.
"ChevronTexaco was awarded offshore
Block A in March, although the official
signing ceremony will be held tomorrow
[Aug 15]," Tara said.

ChevronTexaco, operator of the
6,278-sq-km block, plans to drill at least two
wells by January or February 2003, he
added. ChevronTexaco will hold a 70%
stake in the project, and Japans Mitsui Oil
Exploration will hold 30%.

Tara said the two countries are eager to
conclude new deals for resource develop-ment
in the region.

"Thailands Foreign Minister Surakiart
Sathirathai visited Phnom Penh at the end of
last week, and held very successful discussions
with Prime Minister Hun Sen over
how to jointly develop the overlapping acreage"
he said. "We hope to firm up produc-tion
sharing agreements in oil exploitation
soon."

The area is estimated to hold natural gas
reserves of up to 11 Tcf, as well as unknown
amounts of oil and condensate.
"We are committed to negotiating each
production sharing contract on a case by
case basis, and will offer the most flexible
terms and the best fiscal incentives package,"
Tara said

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CAMBODIA: The Cambodian National
Petroleum Authority Aug 15 formally
awarded the 6,278-sq-km Block A in Cam-bodian
waters of the Gulf of Thailand to
ChevronTexaco, an authority official said.
Block A lies about 20km offshore the Cam-bodian
coastal town of Kas Rong. (The
Platts Oilgram News story of Aug 15 was
incorrect in stating Block A lies in the Over-lapping
Claims Area of the Gulf of Thailand
between Cambodia and Thailand.)
ChevronTexaco, operator of the block,
holds 70%, in partnership with Japans
Mitsui Oil Exploration Co, with 30%, the
authority official said.