Total suspends exploration work amid Brunei-Malaysia spat
KUALA LUMPUR - French oil company Total said on Monday it had
suspended exploration work in an oil block off Borneo due to a
territorial dispute between Malaysia and Brunei.
Total, leader of a consortium which last year won a Brunei tender
for one of two huge offshore blocks, said it was ''surprised'' that
Malaysia had entered territorial claims on the area.
Work had been halted to await the outcome of discussions between
the two governments, said chairman and chief executive Thierry
Desmarest.
''Exploration was suspended a few weeks ago,'' he told reporters on
the sidelines of an Asia oil and gas conference here.
''We are surprised to see it is contested by another country. Under
international practices, the waters are legitimate to Brunei. I
hope at the end of the day there will be an amicable
solution.''
Brunei last year awarded one block to Total and its partners US
Amerada Hess and Australian BHP Billiton, and the other to
Anglo-Dutch giant Royal Dutch/Shell group, involving Mitsubishi and
ConocoPhillips, the New York-based International Oil Daily reported
on Monday.
Since early this year, however, the deepwater blocks have also been
claimed by Malaysia whose state-owned oil firm Petronas awarded
identical acreage to US Murphy Oil and its own subsidiary, Petronas
Carigali, the publication of the Energy Intelligence Group
said.
A drilling team from Total was chased off the block by the
Malaysian navy in March, according to the Oil Daily, quoting
reports from a Brunei newspaper.
The contested area represents about half of Brunei's entire
offshore territory and is vital to its plans to diversify its
oil-dependent economy.
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