A decades-old dispute between Cambodia and Thailand over potentially resource-rich waters is back in the spotlight as rising prices press governments to find new energy sources.
Thai officials have floated a new approach to long-stalled negotiations over the overlapping claims area (OCA), a 27,000-square-kilometer swath of the Gulf of Thailand claimed by both countries.
Estimated to contain up to 11 trillion cubic feet of natural gas plus large oil deposits, the area has been contested since the 1970s. An agreement in 2001 set out a framework for talks on the issue that states any deal to develop energy resources must be negotiated “simultaneously” with another on territorial issues.
