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A senior Cambodian government official said Cambodia's granting of oil exploration concessionaires to the French company Total does not affect the so-called "overlapping claim areas" (OCA), claimed by bothh Cambodia and Thailand.

Mr. Koy Kuong (pictured), spokesman for the Cambodian Foreign Ministry, insists that the areas awarded to Total are located in Cambodian territorial waters. He added that currently, Total has only commenced studies of the areas and hasn't started the exploration works yet.

He reiterated that Cambodia's granting of oil exploration concessionaires to Total in Cambodian territorial waters is the exclusive right of Cambodia. He added that Cambodia did not lodge any protests when Thailand awarded the American oil company Chevron and the Japanese oil company Mitsubishi the exploration rights in the "overlapping claim areas".

Mr. Koy Kuong said the Thai naval exercises recently on Koh Kut (Kut Island) near the OCAs is just a sign of a security threat to Cambodia, but they were conducted on Thai soil and territorial waters which Cambodia has no problem with.

Gen. Chhum Socheat, spokesman for the Cambodian Defence Ministry, also insisted that the Total oil concessionaires in Block A are located in Cambodian territorial waters, not in the OCAs. He also reiterates that Cambodia will resolve border disputes with Thailand through peaceful means.

Source: Khmer Sthapana newspaper
Reported in English by Khmerization