Thailand: Oil-rich gulf waters to be negotiated

Thailand expects to start negotiations with Cambodia on April 21 in Bangkok on offshore petroleum fields in the disputed waters in the Gulf of Thailand, according to Songpop Polachan, deputy director-general of the Department of Mineral Fuels.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs would host the first official negotiations between the two countries in the hope of reaching a conclusion over the controversial area, which covers 26,000 square kilometres.
Mr Songpop said that the Thai government was prepared to propose to Cambodia a model based on the successful Malaysia Thailand Joint Development Area and the Timor Gap Australia-Indonesia Co-operation pact.

Exploration began 30 years ago in the disputed Thai-Cambodian waters, also called the Khmer Basin. Despite the lack of concrete reports on reserves, both countries have sought to tap the overlapping area for potential undersea oil and natural gas potential.

At a time of skyrocketing global oil prices, an area potentially rich with resources proves even more valuable to both countries, which are eager to overcome the dispute and move ahead with their plans.

The two countries have not engaged in any serious talks about the offshore area for the past decade.

Cambodian officials said recently that their unofficial talks in 2006 on the issue had failed to result in a formal round because Thailand needed a larger share over the area than the 50-50 proposed by Cambodia.Thailand is currently focusing on seeking to secure as many energy sources from its neighbours as possible in order to meet its projected growth demand in the near future.

Bangkok Post