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Kota Kinabalu: Shell and Conoco officials are not aware of any plans to explore the “Ambalat” region south of the Tawau Basin reported to hold significant natural oil and gas deposits.

Twenty years ago in 2005, Shell and national upstream company Petronas Carigali signed production sharing contracts for two deep-water blocks – Blocks ND6 and ND7 in waters up to 4,000 metres deep off Sabah on disputed acreage that overlaps blocks awarded to Unocal by Indonesia. 

Before that, in 2002, the International Court of Justice awarded the islands of Sipadan and Ligitan in the Celebes Sea area of Ambalat, to Malaysia. But it did not establish delimitations in the surrounding waters.

Shell and Petronas Carigali were awarded joint operatorship of the two deep-water tracts with each holding 50 per cent equity.