Angkor Resources Corp. announced that its Cambodian energy subsidiary, EnerCam Resources Co., Ltd., has sent the terms of its comprehensive drilling contractor tender to Cambodia's Ministry of Mines and Energy for review. Once approved, the tender will be made public so that drilling companies can bid to drill exploratory wells on Block VIII, according to a company release distributed via NEWMEDIAWIRE.
The tender outlines the full scope of work for the successful drilling contractor, from mobilizing the rig and equipment into Cambodia to testing each well. It follows the Ministry of Environment's approval of EnerCam's Environmental Impact Assessment on September 30, 2026, which cleared the way to drill on all four sub-basins.
Mike Weeks, President of EnerCam, said the tender specifies everything the first wells in Cambodia need to deliver, including equipment, drilling, testing, and protection of communities around each site. He noted that due diligence on contractors has already been completed, allowing quick selection once the Ministry reviews the terms.
The 89-page tender includes mobilization of the drilling rig, pumps, drilling muds, casing, wellheads, and consumables into Cambodia. It sets a drilling sequence of one exploration well in each of the four sub-basins—South Bokor, Central Bokor, North Bokor, and Kirirom—with a fifth well to be located based on results from the first four. Wells will be drilled to depths of up to 3,300 meters, targeting at least two potential pay zones at the three Bokor sub-basins, including fractured Permian carbonates below the Indosinian 1 unconformity.
Each well will be logged, and any well bore indicating hydrocarbons will be completed and production-tested. Wells are designed for full production configuration, flow-tested for four weeks, then shut in for a 12-week pressure build-up to definitively assess reservoir commerciality. The tender also requires adherence to the approved EIA, including protection of local communities, water, and land, handling of drilling fluids, and site restoration if a well is not productive.
EnerCam has already completed due diligence on multiple potential drilling contractors. During 2026, the team made two visits to China to meet three potential drilling service providers and hosted site visits to Block VIII by two potential contractors to assess roads, bridges, and drill sites against equipment requirements. The focus has been on each contractor's capacity to deliver complete service—rigs, crews, logging, and testing equipment—to international standards.
Drilling contractors are selected through a tendered bid that is first approved by MME and then published in various media outlets. EnerCam is targeting bid selection in early 2027. Mobilizing drilling equipment to the sites takes approximately three months once a contractor is selected.
As Cambodia's first onshore oil and gas wells, the Block VIII wells will provide the first direct well data from the onshore basins targeted by EnerCam. The program also sets a precedent for how onshore wells are permitted, contracted, and drilled in Cambodia as the sector develops. Members of EnerCam's drilling team, including drilling manager John Koch, have designed and built oil and gas drill programs and drill sites in over 60 countries, bringing current global practice and technology to Block VIII.
EnerCam has completed 350 line-kilometers of 2D seismic and defined drill targets across four sub-basins. Block VIII covers approximately 4,095 km² in the southwest quadrant of Cambodia under a 30-year Production Sharing Contract with the Royal Government of Cambodia. As Cambodia imports 100% of its hydrocarbon-based energy products, discovering a national domestic supply of oil and gas remains a high priority. The company will continue providing further updates on the drilling tender, drilling contractors, and well-planning progress at regular intervals.
Angkor Resources Corp. is a public company listed on the TSX-Venture Exchange and is a leading resource explorer and developer in Cambodia. Its mineral subsidiary, Angkor Gold Corp. Co., Ltd., holds two mineral exploration licenses with multiple copper and gold prospects. EnerCam was granted an onshore oil and gas license for Block VIII and is actively advancing exploration activities. The company's website is resources.com.
The original release is available at www.newmediawire.com.
