Angkor Resources Corp. announced that Cambodia's Ministry of Environment has granted final approval for its wholly owned subsidiary, EnerCam Resources Co., Ltd., to drill exploratory wells on four sub-basins of the Block VIII onshore oil and gas concession in southwest Cambodia. The approval, granted after an inter-ministerial review on July 14, 2026, covers the Kirirom, Bokor North, Bokor Central, and Bokor South sub-basins, which together host the company's defined drill targets. This development matters because it moves Cambodia closer to potentially discovering domestic oil and gas resources, reducing its complete reliance on imported hydrocarbons.
The approval follows the submission of an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and a drilling permit application, which underwent a thorough review involving more than 26 representatives from five government ministries and three provinces. With the EIA approved, EnerCam now advances to the Ministry of Mines and Energy (MME) with applications for specific drilling components, including downhole logging and well operations. The sub-basins are located across Preah Sihanouk, Koh Kong, and Kampong Speu provinces. The company's 4+1 drill program contemplates one exploration well in each of the four sub-basins, followed by a fifth well located based on the results of those wells under a Production Sharing Contract.
Mike Weeks, President of EnerCam, commented, "With approval now in hand on all four sub-basins, we move to the Ministry of Mines and Energy on the individual components of the drilling program, and that includes the well logging and the downhole tools. The Ministry of Environment went through this in detail with us - how each site is drilled, how the water and drilling fluid are handled, and how the land is restored if a well is not productive. It has been a thorough process with the Ministries and with the communities where we will be working, and it sets a precedent for how onshore drilling gets done in Cambodia as the sector develops."
EnerCam has completed 350 line-kilometers of 2D seismic and defined drill targets across the four sub-basins. The company is also progressing on the drilling contractor tender, which requires MME approval before publication. A 70+ page tender document is under review, and mobilizing drilling equipment takes approximately three months once a contractor is engaged. The program would be the first privately financed onshore drilling for oil and gas in Cambodia, and a discovery would begin to offset the Kingdom's spending on hydrocarbon imports. The approval sets a regulatory precedent for future onshore drilling in Cambodia. For more details, see the full release on www.newmediawire.com. Angkor Resources is listed on the TSX-Venture Exchange and is a leading resource explorer and developer in Cambodia, with mineral and energy subsidiaries. Its energy subsidiary, EnerCam, holds the Block VIII license covering approximately 4,095 square kilometers under a 30-year Production Sharing Contract. The company plans to follow with drilling Cambodia's first privately financed onshore exploratory oil and gas wells. For more information, visit resources.com.
