Prime Minister Hun Sen on Monday confirmed that Cambodia will extract the first drop of oil from the Apsara oilfield in Cambodia’s offshore Block A by mid-2020.

He said this during a graduation ceremony for the Human Resource University, which was held at the National Institute of Education in Phnom Penh.

Last week, Singapore-based KrisEnergy Ltd – which operates Block A – announced that its wholly owned subsidiary KrisEnergy (Apsara) Co Ltd had signed a conditional letter of award with PT Profab Indonesia for the supply of a minimum facilities wellhead “mini-platform” for the Apsara oilfield – Cambodia’s maiden oil development.

“This development phase, Mini Phase 1A, comprises the mini-platform and five initial development wells connected to the Ingenium II production barge for oil, gas and water processing. Shuttle tankers will transport crude oil from the barge,” the firm said.

The Apsara oilfield in Cambodia’s offshore Block A lies over the Khmer Basin, an unproduced geological area in Cambodian waters in the Gulf of Thailand, it said.

“Apsara oil is scheduled to flow in the first half of 2020, and the field is expected to reach a peak rate of 7,500 barrels of oil per day.”

Hun Sen said: “Now our first drop of oil will be extracted by 2020, but on a specific date I will have to confirm. They [KrisEnergy] are working with the company [Profab], which is building equipment to extract our first oil.”http://https://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/first-drop-oil-mid-2020-says-hun-sen