Singapore’s KrisEnergy, in a joint venture with the Cambodian government, has commenced extracting first crude oil from the Apsara field in the offshore Cambodia Block A concession, following years of delays. 

Block A is owned and operated by KrisEnergy with a 95% stake while the remaining 5% interest is held by Royal Government of Cambodia through the General Department of State Property and Non Tax Revenue (GDSPNTR) of the Ministry of Economy and Finance. 

KrisEnergy said that the production from the Apsara field began flowing from a single development well. Production is planned to be increased once four additional wells are commissioned and completed. 

The latest move is part of a deal signed by Cambodia with KrisEnergy in 2017 to jointly develop 3,083 sq km of the Khmer basin in the Gulf of Thailand known as Block A. The Apsara field is located in the Khmer Basin, an unproduced geological basin in Cambodian maritime waters in the Gulf of Thailand.