Thai-Cambodian
The issue of overlapping maritime areas between Thailand and Cambodia or Overlapping Claims Areas-OCA has become an issue that is being monitored again during the visit of Prime Minister of Cambodia Hun Manet on February 7 with the issue of OCA. will be one of the topics that the Prime Ministers of both countries will discuss. The Thai side has high hopes for this
If the two countries can reach an agreement on the OCA issue that has dragged on for more than 22 years, it will pave the way for joint development in overlapping areas. It is believed to be another major source of oil in the Gulf of Thailand.
Oceanic Overlap Area (OCA)
The 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea or UNCLOS states that the continental shelf of a coastal state consists of: The seabed and subsoil of the seabed area extending beyond the territorial sea along the natural length of the territory up to the outer edge of the continental margin or up to a distance of 200 nautical miles from the baseline. It is used to measure the width of the territorial sea in cases where the outer edge of a continent does not extend beyond that distance.
Coastal states have the sovereign right to explore and exploit the natural resources of their continental shelves, and anyone undertaking these operations must obtain the consent of that coastal state.
In the event that States with opposite or adjacent sea coasts are required to negotiate an agreement to determine the boundaries of the sea between them and while negotiations for an agreement to determine the boundaries of the sea have not yet been completed. Every effort must be made to prepare a temporary agreement that has the characteristics of being able to work with each other in a spirit of understanding and cooperation
The issue of overlapping maritime areas or OCAs emerged immediately when Cambodia and Thailand announced their borders. “continental shelf” right in the Gulf of Thailand Cambodia declared a continental shelf area in 1972 and Thailand in 1973 after negotiations began to delimit the continental shelf since 1970 but failed to reach an agreement. The boundary of Cambodia’s continental shelf is drawn from the point known as Pillar 73 (land boundary marker under the Franco-Thai Treaty of 1907) to the sea, and extends to about the middle of Cambodia’s eastern outer border. “Koh Kood” which is Thai Then draw a new continental shelf line starting from the western outer edge of Koh Kood at the same level and direction. Directly due west almost to the center of the Gulf of Thailand.
Meanwhile, Thailand announced the first straight baseline in three areas, including the Koh Chang area. Koh Phangan area Phuket Island area and later announced a straight baseline in the Losin Island area. Regarding the territorial sea, it announced a zone of 12 nautical miles measured from the baseline and a contiguous zone of 24 nautical miles for Thailand’s continental shelf in the Gulf of Thailand, and for its exclusive economic zone, Thailand has announced 200 nautical miles The two countries, by their very nature, made announcements when negotiations failed to reach an agreement, immediately resulting in an overlapping maritime area of approximately 26,000 square kilometers.
MOU 44 prohibits separate negotiations on overlapping areas.
Thai Government and Cambodian Government Therefore, maritime border negotiations were opened several times (since 1970) until on 18 June 2001 both sides signed a memorandum of understanding between the Government of the Kingdom of Thailand and the Government of the Kingdom of Cambodia regarding the area. that Thailand and Cambodia claim overlapping rights on the continental shelf Also known as the 2001 MOU, this MOU is therefore considered to be a “temporary agreement” that can be implemented in the spirit of understanding and cooperation declared in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, 1982 to reach a conclusion on the issue of maritime boundary delimitation where there are overlapping issues.
The overlap area is divided into two parts along 11 degrees north latitude. The upper area above 11 degrees north latitude is called the upper overlap area. It has an area of approximately 10,000 square kilometers. The lower overlap area is below the north latitude line by 11 degrees. in an area of approximately 16,000 square kilometers It will be the nature of the area that will be jointly developed either the Joint Development Area or the JDA itself.
However, in Article 2 of the 2001 MOU it is stated that “it is the intention of the Contracting Party to accelerate the negotiations to simultaneously carry out the following actions: 1) create an agreement for the joint development of petroleum resources; It is located in the Joint Development Zone, which is an area of approximately 16,000 square kilometers below the 11 degrees north latitude line. (lower overlap zone) and 2) zoning agreement that is mutually acceptable for the territorial sea, the continental shelf and the exclusive economic zone in the areas to be delimited
This means that under this memorandum the two governments will have to negotiate to simultaneously find an agreement on the delimitation of the territorial sea, the continental shelf and the exclusive economic zone. In negotiations on areas to be jointly developed or in the JDA, these two issues cannot be separated at all.
Oil in the joint development area
This is well understood. The government hopes to introduce oil into the ocean overlap area (OCA) to solve the country’s expensive energy problem. This is because natural gas fields in the Gulf of Thailand are declining in production due to the age of the fields and there are no new “gas fields” in Thailand’s maritime territory to replace the gas volumes that will disappear in the future. This may be close.
Hopes of finding such a source of oil are based on a 2005 exploration report by the US company Chevron. It is the only company that has received a concession to explore oil resources in the OCA area from both the Thai and Cambodian governments. An assessment was carried out in the southern OCA area of Cambodia and it was found that both oil and natural gas are worth between 1.5 trillion baht and 3.5 trillion baht.
Meanwhile, the United States Geological Survey (Fact Sheet 2010-3015) (USGS) report from June 2010 provided information on the location of three basins that have accumulated oil and natural gas in the Gulf of Thailand, namely the Cenozoic basin Thai Basin in the northern part of the Gulf of Thailand, the Thai Basin in the western part of the Gulf of Thailand, with the Pattani Basin as a sub-basin, and the Malay Basin in the southern part of the Gulf of Thailand.
According to the Petroleum Institute of Thailand, it is called a basin due to the characteristics of its geological structure. The “Pattani Basin” has the potential to explore natural gas and crude oil resources. In reserves “not inferior” to those already discovered in the maritime area of the Gulf of Thailand, on the border with Thailand. Therefore it is necessary for Thailand and Cambodia to reach an agreement to bring oil to the overlapping area. i.e. an area of approximately 16,000 square kilometers (lower overlap area) can be used together.
Even if the two governments can reach an agreement to jointly develop the Lower Overlap Area (JDA), oil exploration and extraction in this field could take at least 10 years before natural gas can be imported or oil can to emerge. In this regard, there is a good example of joint development in the overlap area between Thailand and Malaysia. Although the agreement was reached in 1979, it took another 26 years before natural gas became available in 2005.
It is not easy to use the JDA co-development model.
It is not easy for the Thai government to negotiate oil imports with the Cambodian government. thing that the Thai government believes “We are sitting on a treasure worth trillions of baht” came out to take advantage of this reason
1) The 2001 MOU has become the only negotiating framework in which to discuss Overlapping Areas (OCA) issues with the Cambodian government. as mutually agreed
2) In the 2001 MOU it is clearly stated that Negotiations on the delimitation of the territorial sea, the continental shelf and the exclusive economic zone with the areas to be jointly developed, or JDA, which the Thai government hopes for There can be no absolute separation in the negotiations.
This means The Thai government will negotiate separately. There is no single Joint Development Area (JDA). If there is no change to the 2001 MOU or an agreement on a new negotiating framework
3) The belief that Thailand will be the only oil development center in the Gulf of Thailand thanks to foreign companies coming to explore and drill. Including PTTEP company which is the current main company. has changed
Because there are currently a large number of energy giants investing in Cambodia. Therefore, the Cambodian government does not need to rely on energy companies that receive exploration and drilling rights from the Thai government. Until it became possible to come up with the idea of drilling and exploring oil on our own.
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