"If the findings are positive, oil production may commence as early as 2008," he told an industry conference.
The oil field (called Khmer Trough) may hold as much as 400 million barrels of crude and 3-5 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, a Cambodian energy official said last year.
It would bring vital revenues for the resource-poor Indochinese nation and should help lower electricity prices by providing a source of indigenous fuel.
