Natural resources of Cambodia

Still, advanced geo-scientific technologies have produced remarkable results and re-assessments in recent years, such as the localization of offshore oil and gas depots in the Gulf of Thailand.

Cambodia, on the other hand possesses a relatively wide range of biotic resources, in particular timber, forest products, rare plants and a fauna of great diversity.

From July to the end of October, when the level of the Mekong is high, water flows via the Tonle Sap River, increasing the size of the lake from 2,600 km2 to about 10,500 km2 (4,054 sq mi) at its maximum extent.

About 86% of Cambodia's territory (156,000 km2 (60,232 sq mi)) is included in the Mekong's basin with the remaining 14% draining directly towards the Gulf of Thailand.

[6][7] Cambodia's hydroelectric generating potential is considerable, especially from the swift current of the middle Mekong River where it flows through the Stoeng Treng and Kracheh provinces.

Forests, which cover approximately 70 percent of Cambodia and which potentially constitute a second pillar of the economy in addition to the primary one, agriculture.

A survey in the 1960s disclosed that Cambodia had more than 130,000 square kilometres of forests that contained many species of tropical growth and trees but not teak or other valuable sources of hardwood.

As of late 1987, forest resources had not yet been fully exploited because of poor security in the countryside and a lack of electrical and mechanical equipment, such as power tools and lumber trucks.

[11] Mineral resources of significance, includes: In late 1969, the Cambodian government granted a permit to a French company to explore for petroleum in the Gulf of Thailand.

Subsequent oil and gas discoveries in the Gulf of Thailand and in the South China Sea, however, could spark renewed interest in Cambodia's offshore area, especially because the country is on the same continental shelf as its Southeast Asian oil-producing neighbors.