KrisEnergy acquires Chevron unit to raise stake in Cambodia block

SINGAPORE - Oil and gas company KrisEnergy has agreed to acquire Chevron Overseas Petroleum (Cambodia), a unit of Chevron Global Energy, for about US$65 million.

The acquisition will give Singapore-listed KrisEnergy a bigger stake in an offshore oil block in Cambodia, the group said on Monday.

Chevron Cambodia holds a 30 per cent participating interest in Cambodia Block A, which it also operates. KrisEnergy previously held a 25 per cent indirect participating interest in the block.

Post-acquisition, KrisEnergy will hold a 52.25 per cent interest in the block, after accounting for Cambodia National Petroleum Authority's pending acquisition of a 5 per cent stake in the block.

Cambodia Block A is located in offshore Cambodia, where extensive exploration work since the mid-2000s resulted in the Apsara oil discovery. The contract area covers 4,709 sq km over the Khmer Basin in the Gulf of Thailand, where water depths range from 50 m to 80 m, KrisEnergy said.

The company's director of business development Richard Lorentz said: "We farmed into Cambodia Block A in 2010 and we believe it has all the makings of a significant oil production area.

"Chevron, with its experience in the Gulf of Thailand, has done some tremendous work in Block A and we hope that with the KrisEnergy entity now holding operatorship, we will be able to steer the Apsara development plans forward to first production as quickly and cost effectively as possible."

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