The Perth-based company said this morning that it had purchased a 10% equity stake in Offshore Block B from Malaysian-controlled Resourceful Petroleum Ltd. Other Block B participants are operator PTTEP (Thailand National Oil Company) (30%), Resourceful Petroleum (30%), and SPC Cambodia Ltd (30%).

The cost of the acquisition was US$800,000. The estimated US$500,000 net cost to Cooper of the planned three-year work program - seismic data review, 200square kilometres of 3D seismic acquisition, and an exploration well - would be funded from Cooper’s cash reserves that stood at a record A$22 million at June 30.

Cooper Energy chief executive Mike Scott said the Cambodian acquisition represented a significant addition to the company’s exploration portfolio, giving it exposure to an emerging oil and gas country.

“Several exploration plays and leads have already been identified within Block B, and the petroleum potential of the area is being demonstrated by the oil and gas discoveries made by Chevron just to the north," Scott said.

“This acquisition advances our international growth strategy.”

Scott said Cambodia had no current oil or gas production, and exploration activities were still in their infancy.

But Chevron’s oil discoveries in Block A earlier this year – where four wells drilled intersected oil columns ranging from 12- 44m, with the Kaoh Tang wildcat well flowed up to 1180 barrels of oil per day – had attracted significant international interest.

Cambodian government officials had recently said estimated recoverable reserves within the 6278 sq km Block A could be as high as 400 million barrels of oil and 3-5 trillion cubic feet of gas.

“Clearly, we cannot draw any definitive conclusions from these comments, but preliminary evaluations indicate that Block B should also have significant exploration potential,” Scott said.

He added that 3D seismic was required to firm up these plays and leads for drilling, with the Block B partners expecting to spend the first 12 months collating and interpreting existing data, acquiring high-quality 3D seismic during 2006-07, and then drilling during 2007-08.

“Even a relatively small discovery would have a very significant impact on the value of Cooper Energy," Scott said.

"Moreover, there are multiple targets in Block B, making this a substantial, long-term offshore exploration opportunity.”

Block B covered 6551 sq km and overlay the south-eastern extension of the Khmer Basin, a proven petroleum system in the Gulf of Thailand that was a sub-basin of the prolific Malay-Thai Basin, which produced the bulk of Thailand’s hydrocarbons.