Cambodia imported approximately 1.2 billion tonnes of petroleum in the
first nine months of the year, up 12.51 per cent from the 1.1 billion tonnes in
the same period last year, statistics from the Ministry of Commerce showed last
week.
From January to September,
Cambodia bought about US$1.2 billion worth of petroleum, a 18.65 per cent
increase, according to the same statistics.
Bin May Mialia, commercial
manager for the Thai-based PTT Oil Company, said this year the oil price
fluctuated greatly off the back of high demand for petroleum.
“The spending increase is not
relevant to the quantity of oil imported. The increase is caused by
fluctuations in the global oil price,” he said. “Mostly, demand rose after the
earthquake and tsunami in Japan which hit their nuclear power station, causing
their consumption of oil to grow,” said Bin May Mialia.
Although his petrol stations have
not seen an increase, he also noted that Cambodia’s chairmanship of ASEAN may
have contributed to the increase in oil imports. “For my stations, we haven’t
seen much of an increase in the amount we import. It’s almost the same as last
year,” he said.
“But, we noticed that the
consumption in jet oil is increasing due to Cambodia hosting the ASEAN summit,
meaning more incoming flights,” he added.
The government anticipated seeing
the country’s first drop in oil imports as Cambodia’s Block A offshore
operations – licensed to Chevron – start operations in December. However, the
Post recently reported the start date will be delayed until 2016.
Although Cambodia will gain about
$500 million per year from the offshore oil, it will not cause a decline in
retail oil prices, according to comments previously made by Mam Sambath,
director of Development Partnership in Action, to the Post.
“It could decline if the
government can attract investors for a refinery factory or the government can
subsidise the price more,” he said.
Cambodia’s demand for oil has
increased in recent years, following the country’s economic expansion and the
increasing number of vehicles on the road.
The government expects demand to
climb to three or four million tonnes in coming years.
Cambodia now buys petroleum from
Vietnam, Singapore and Thailand.
May Kunmakara
Business & Investment Opportunities
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