More than a year after receiving permission to start exploratory drilling, Mirach Energy, a Singapore-based oil exploration and production company, is still unsure about when it will be able to commence drilling in Cambodia’s Block D offshore oil field because the Ministry of Mines and Energy has not come to a decision on fees for the block, according to its 2015 financial report released Tuesday.
CPHL Camodia, which is 48 percent owned by Mirach Energy, has held the production rights to the 5,500-square-km area off the coast of Sihanoukville since 2006, but the project has been largely static since it was given initial environmental clearance in November 2014.
Tuesday’s financial statement said that, while the company “had been in the midst of finalizing the details on the exploration drilling project…this has been met with some challenges from Q4 2015 of which further negotiations on financial arrangements with the Ministry of Mines and Energy are still pending.”
Officials from the ministry could not be reached.