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China unveils 1st oil refinery project in Cambodia

TOKYO, Dec 28 (KUNA) -- Cambodian Petrochemical Company and Sinomach China Perfect Machinery Industry Corp. jointly announced on Friday a plan to build the first oil refinery in Cambodia and the construction is expected to be completed at the end of 2015, China's state-run Xinhua News Agency reported from Phnom Penh.
Sinomach President Zhang Sugang said the oil refinery will cost USD 2.3 billion and it will take 36 months to be constructed on the 80-hectare area, according to the report. "When the construction is completed, the plant will be capable to produce 5 million tons of oil a year (100,000 barrels per day (bpd))," Zhang was quoted as saying after a signing ceremony in the Cambodian capital.
During a signing ceremony, the Cambodian government signed to grant an oil refinery license to Cambodian Petrochemical to build the factory. Cambodian Petrochemical plans to build an oil refinery with the high-and-latest technology that has not been used in the Southeast Asian nations. Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister Sok An said that currently, Cambodia's oil demand is more than 1 million tons a year (20,000 bpd), but the demand will reach 3 or 4 million tons a year (60,000-80,000 bpd) in coming years thanks to a steadily growing economic size.
According to the figures recorded by Cambodia's Commerce Ministry, the country spent USD 1.33 billion to buy 1.35 million tons of oil from Vietnam, Thailand and Singapore in the first 10 months of this year. The country's seabed is believed to be rich in oil and gas, but exploitation is not made yet.
Sok said that US' Chevron has invested about USD 150 million for oil and gas exploration in Cambodia's offshore Block A and it is estimated that the firm needs to invest another USD 600 million to exploit oil and gas from the Block."But, now, the negotiations between the government and the company have not yet completed on the issue of tax payment," he said. (end) mk.rk KUNA 281239 Dec 12NNNN