Cambodia is betting on a little-used UN arbitration process known as “compulsory conciliation” to resolve a long-running maritime boundary dispute with Thailand and unlock what it says are billions of dollars in potential oil and gas resources.

What The Dispute Is About

For more than 25 years, Cambodia and Thailand have both laid claim to about 26,000 sq. km of sea in the Gulf of Thailand.

The disputed area is estimated to hold nearly 12 trillion cubic feet of natural gas and large quantities of oil valued at around $300 billion.

In 2001, the two neighbours signed a pact seeking to jointly exploit the energy resources in the so-called “overlapping claims area.” Thailand’s government, however, last month unilaterally terminated that agreement to fulfil an election pledge made by Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul following two rounds of deadly conflict along a disputed land border last year.

What Compulsory Conciliation Is

On Tuesday, Cambodia announced it had launched a compulsory conciliation process under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

The mechanism can be initiated by any signatory against another.

Each country appoints two conciliators to a panel known as the Conciliation Commission, which selects a fifth member as chair.

The commission investigates the facts and legal positions of each state and delivers a set of non-binding recommendations, also sent in a report to the UN secretary general.

Has It Been Used Before?

The mechanism has only been used once by East Timor, also known as Timor-Leste, to resolve a decades-long maritime dispute with Australia.

East Timor initiated the process in April 2016, and in March 2018, following less than two years of negotiations, both countries signed a maritime boundary treaty at UN headquarters.

What Happens Next

Cambodia has delegated its foreign minister, Prak Sokhonn, as its agent for proceedings, appointing Danish diplomat Peter Taksøe-Jensen, who chaired the East Timor-Australia commission, and French academic Jean-Marc Thouvenin to the panel.

Thailand has 21 days to appoint its own conciliators, failing which Cambodia can request the UN Secretary General to appoint them on Bangkok’s behalf.

Thailand’s Anutin said Tuesday he was not aware Cambodia had initiated the process, adding his government would utilise UNCLOS principles in deciding its next steps.

Once four members are appointed, they have 30 days to select a chairperson before proceedings begin.

(with input from Reuters)