Brunei–Malaysia border 1901 (ceded to the British North Borneo Company which subsequently transferred the territory to Sarawak in 1904). The treaty between the Sultanate and Britain in 1888, which resulted in Brunei becoming a British Protectorate, did not manage to halt the loss of territory. The annexation of the Baram, Trusan and Limbang areas resulted in the current borders of Brunei, with the Limbang annexation, which Brunei had continuously refused to recognise, fragmenting the Sultanate into two non-contiguous territories. Malaysia inherited these borders with Brunei when Sarawak, which had also become a British Protectorate in 1888 and subsequently a Crown Colony after
Brunei–Malaysia border Petronas Carigali Sdn Bhd and US-based Murphy Sabah Oil Co. Ltd for two areas, which Malaysia calls Block L and Block M, which lie exactly within the area claimed by Brunei as part of its continental shelf/EEZ. Later in March 2003, a Bruneian gunboat was sent to drive away a Murphy drilling ship in the area. The following month, the Malaysian navy sent several gunboats into the disputed area to block the arrival of a Total ship. After a tense stand-off involving a single patrol craft from Brunei, Total backed off and both sides stopped work in the disputed areas.