Thailand and Cambodia trying to tie up oil contract

Negotiations involving claims to undersea oil and natural gas fields in the Gulf of Thailand are dragging on for Thailand and Cambodia.

The two countries had opened negotiations in 1995 in a bid to tap into potentially rich reserves; the talks leading to a memorandum of understanding signed in 2001 by the Thai and Cambodian prime ministers.

The two countries agreed in principle to join in development and share profits from a total of eight blocks of petroleum fields in an overlapping claims area, but the agreement still needs approval of the Thai House of Representatives to comply with international treaty agreements.

Committees and working groups are working to seek an agreeable solution for the whole 26,000-square-kilometre area which is under dispute.