With significant energy potential and in an effort to handle the energy crisis, Cambodia and Thailand want to cooperate to renegotiate the Joint Development Area (JDA) to explore oil and gas resources in an area of overlapping claims of 26,000 square kilometers.
It is believed that there are as much as 500 million barrels of oil and gas under the seabed. Looking ahead, each countries need to ensure sustainable energy development in the long run.
On October 30, Thailand’s Energy Minister Pirapan Salirathavibhaga announced his government’s intention to shift the main target of negotiations with Cambodia to the Organization of Asian Energy Cooperation (OAEC). According to Thai media, this latest approach emphasizes joint development beyond territorial maritime boundaries.
Pirapan said they’re prioritizing energy supplies from the OCA somewhat than specializing in the territorial maritime border. According to him, resolving territorial disputes is an advanced and time-consuming process since it is difficult for countries to simply accept changes to their borders.
Thailand and Cambodia formally staked their claims to the continental shelf and territorial sea at different times, and the legal basis for these claims differs. Pirapan emphasized that each have legitimate legal grounds, which makes it difficult to find out absolutely the truth on this dispute. He also emphasized that if this dispute can’t be easily resolved, there will probably be no profit in combining the 2 issues, which is able to only complicate the situation much more.
According to Cambodia’s Minister of Mines and Energy Keo Rottanak, his country is willing to cooperate with Thailand within the framework of the Joint Development Area (JDA), specializing in the mutual advantages of each ASEAN neighbors. However, he said his government had not yet received an official invitation from Thai authorities.
Meanwhile, after visiting Phnom Penh in late September, Thai Foreign Minister Parnpree Bahiddha Nukara announced that the Thai government should establish a brand new joint technical committee before resuming JDA negotiations with Cambodia.
For now, nonetheless, it will not be clear who the members of the commission will probably be and under which ministry it can be responsible.
