BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, Brunei (AFP)--The leaders of Brunei and
Malaysia on Monday moved toward settling a border dispute that
could clear the way for exploration in potentially oil- and
gas-rich waters, aides said.
Brunei's information ministry said Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah and
visiting Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi signed the
agreement at the Brunei ruler's palace in the capital, Bandar Seri
Begawan.
Malaysian Foreign Minister Rais Yatim was quoted by Malaysia's
official Bernama news agency as saying that the accord contains
principles of cooperation to be implemented in the surveying and
demarcation of the land and maritime borders.
It also calls for the setting up of technical committees to
finalize the details on the boundary issues.
Brunei and Malaysia have been in a dispute over a potentially
oil- and gas-rich area off the Borneo coast for the past six
years.
Brunei, a tiny monarchy surrounded by Malaysia's eastern states
of Sarawak and Sabah, awarded exploration rights in one offshore
block to French oil compan Total SA (TOT) and another block to
Royal Dutch Shell Group (RDSA)in 2002.
But the deep-water blocks are also claimed by Malaysia, whose
state-owned oil firm Petronas awarded identical acreage to U.S.
Murphy Oil Corp. (MUR) and its own subsidiary, Petronas
Carigali.
Brunei, a Malay Muslim kingdom, is Southeast Asia's
fourth-largest oil producer and the world's ninth-largest exporter
of liquefied natural gas, according to a World Trade Organization
report.