DHL eyes Cambodia Oil and Gas

Germany-based logistics giant DHL will put increasing focus on servicing Cambodia’s nascent oil and gas sector for the future of its Kingdom business, officials said at the launch of its new Phnom Penh office today.

While 95 percent of its current freight forwarding work in Cambodia concentrates on garment exports, the company claims to see massive potential for oil and gas.

“Countries like China, India are actively looking for resources, resources like oil and energy,” said the firm’s Africa and Asia Pacific head of oil and energy Sam Ang.

“While I’m pretty sure the [importance] of the [garment] sector will not be reduced, other sectors are coming up.”

The firm’s oil and gas business involves providing logistical services to industry firms.

Sam Ang claimed this could include importing machinery and assisting in large projects such as the installation of oil platforms.

Oil has been climbing on worldwide exchanges in recent months.

Today, Brent crude traded at more than US$104.50 a barrel on London’s ICE Futures Europe exchange.

“As price goes up, people are more excited,” said Sam Ang.

A growing worldwide economy was pushing demand for energy, he said, adding the Kingdom potentially sat on billions of barrels of oil.

Chevron Corporation is generally thought to be the Kingdom’s first chance of producing oil. Prime Minister Hun Sen last year threatened to remove Chevron’s licence – which is held for offshore Block A – if a 2012 deadline to begin production was not met.

Sam Ang also emphasised DHL looked to increase its business from industrial factories looking to enter Cambodia.

Meanwhile, DHL Global Forwarding chief executive officer of Africa and South Asia Pacific, Amadou Diallo, said the United States and Europe were the traditional markets for Cambodia’s garment exports, but added the firm expected intra-Asia exports to pick up in coming years.

Rising costs for producers in China meant factories were increasing coming to the Kingdom, he said, adding that DHL worked hard to stay ahead of the curve.

“You’ll find DHL in more countries than Coca-Cola,” he said. ADDITIONAL REPORTING BLOOMBERG