(AFP) Malaysia and Thailand are expected to start pumping natural gas from a seabed site along their border in the middle of next year, an official said today.

A pipeline will take the gas to Songkhla in southern Thailand from the Malaysia-Thailand Joint Development Area, said Ibrahim Mat, a senior official with the Malaysian customs service.

Both countries have started installing production platforms, he said.

"The natural gas reserves for that area could last for at least 25 years," Bernama news agency quoted him as saying at a meeting of customs officials from both countries.

The officials are expected to agree details of tax exemptions for production equipment during the two-day meeting.

The Songkhla pipeline project has been stalled by strong opposition from Thai environmental groups.

An industry source who requested anonymity said the Thai government was expected to make a decision on the project at the end of this month.

Work on the pipeline has not yet begun, he said, although Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said during a visit to Malaysia in April that his country would push ahead with the pipeline project.