Premier Petroleum Cambodia has sold a 33.3 percent share in their Block 4

concession area in Cambodian waters to Japan's Idemitsu Kosan, Premier's country

coordinator Jeremy Martin told the Post this week.

Martin explained that

his company, a subsidiary of Britain's Premier Consolidated Oilfields, has a

policy of introducing partners at the drilling stage because of the high cost

and high risk involved.

He estimated total drilling costs at $6 million.

Martin refused to discuss further the PSC (production sharing contract),

saying it was confidential.

Martin, a former country coordinator for

Enterprise Oil which has concessions on two adjoining blocks, said, "We'll start

drilling as soon as the drilling ship is available, late April if possible."

Premier will be using the Nedrill Workship One.

Premier has had the Block

4 concession for almost two years, and has completed seismic surveys of the

area.

The surveys involve towing a boom behind a ship and firing off

electrical charges to obtain vibrations which determine the different geological

strata, explained Martin.

The first exploration well, Kaoh Tang-1, has a

projected total depth of 3,609 metres.

It will be one of the first wells

to be drilled in the Khmer Trough in over 20 years, said the managing director

of Premier Oil Pacific David Melzer in a statement released to the

Post.

Block 4 is located west of Kaoh Tang Island, 200 km southwest of

Sihanoukville.