Laos People’s Democratic Republic, the only landlocked member of the 10-nation Asean bloc, is considering building a national oil pipeline system, according to the country’s Asian Council on Petroleum (Ascope) representative.
Current oil demand in Laos is relatively modest at six million barrels per year of crude.
However, the crude is costly as the country relies on imports, nearly all of which is imported from neighbouring Vietnam and Thailand.
Asia-focused independent Salamander Energy, which drilled a pair of wells in 2010, is understood to be the company most recently engaged in exploration in Laos, which has seen limited drilling in the past.
16 companies – 13 local and three international players including PetroVietnam and PTT of Thailand – are today active in Laos’ downstream sector.
