The oil giant refused to comment on recent reports its operations have been delayed

OIL giant Chevron released a statement Monday refusing to comment on reports that its operations in the Gulf of Thailand had been delayed.

The Post reported last week that the Cambodian government said in a meeting with International Monetary Fund officials that Chevron's operations were in question, amid local media reports that a taxation dispute had delayed production.

"[Chevron] and its partners have been working hard to find a solution to develop the complex reservoir and we are in the process of evaluating several development options for the Block A resource to overcome this challenge," the Chevron statement said.

The statement did not refer to the alleged tax dispute.

Earlier reports said that Cambodia would begin to produce oil in 2009, but recent statements from the Cambodian government have cast doubt on these predictions.

Cambodia is reported to have hundreds of millions of barrels of light sweet crude off its southern shore, as well as up to two trillion cubic metres of natural gas.

The IMF did not comment on the allegations, but confirmed that the issue of the Block A oil concession had been raised at the November 3 meeting.

The IMF said that it has no position on the issue.