Cambodia to expand navy in gulf to guard oil fields

The Cambodian Ministry of National Defense is planning to significantly expand the Royal Cambodian Navy’s presence in the Gulf of Thailand to provide security for companies searching for and extracting oil, local media said on Friday.

The navy will triple its size and increase patrols to defend Cambodia’s offshore oil fields and maritime integrity, Minister of Defense Tea Banh was quoted by English-language newspaper the Cambodian Daily as saying.
Along the southwestern coast of the kingdom, several companies from the United States, South Korea and Cambodia itself have been searching for oil in the past years. The concerned sides have confirmed rich reservation of oil and natural gas and production is expected to start in 2008.

Xinhua