Vietnam, Cambodia to share oil resources
Phnom Penh (dpa) - Cambodia and Vietnam announced Monday that they would cooperate to study and explore Cambodia's potentially rich, recently discovered offshore oil reserves despite sea borders not yet finalised between the two neighbours.
The announcement followed hard on the heels of a visit by Thai caretaker Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra on August 10. At that time, Thailand and Cambodia agreed on percentage divisions of shared oil revenues in disputed waters but failed to agree on the sea borders at the centre of the dispute between those two nations. They said that aspect of the issue might take six more months to resolve.
Vietnamese Permanent Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Sinh Hung met with Cambodian officials, including Foreign Minister Hor Namhong, for about two hours Monday soon after his arrival in Cambodia, on an official visit scheduled to end Wednesday.
"[Investigating] oil and gas reserves for the purpose of business between the two nations does not need to wait until the two have an agreement over sea borders," Cambodian Foreign Ministry spokesman Long Visalo told reporters outside the meeting.
He said Vietnam had considerable experience in the field and for that reason "the two countries should cooperate in this field."
"The two governments have decided to do this job together, and the two national oil authorities will work together," he said.
Vietnam is an established oil producer, ranking third in oil production among the 10-nation Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) behind Indonesia and Malaysia. Most of its production comes from offshore basement reservoirs, similar to Cambodia's richest known reservoirs.
Cambodian officials said they hope drilling would begin in the first of a number of potentially rich offshore oil and gas fields by 2008. The venture has already attracted companies that include the US oil giant Chevron.
Analysts have speculated that Monday's announcement might serve as a warning to Thailand not to lag in coming to an agreement with Cambodia over its sea borders.
Cambodia has no formal agreement on sea borders with either of its powerful neighbours.
Nguyen Sinh Hung also discussed a range of areas in which the two nations should heighten cooperation, including energy, mines, industry and tourism.
Cambodia's ruling Cambodian People's Party and the Vietnamese government share strong historical links since Vietnamese-backed troops ousted the Khmer Rouge regime in 1979.
Deutsche Presse Agentur - August 21, 2006.
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