As has been the case with many confrontations in history, aggressive countries draw proverbial lines in the sand to mark their own expansion plans against the resolve of other countries whose territories they covet. In the present day People’s Republic of China [PRC], however, it’s not a line in the sand but a “10-dash line” […]
China aims to raise petroleum output by updating its technology and stepping up oil and gas exploration across Bohai, East China and South China Seas. The plan was outlined in an energy development scheme for 2014 to 2020 issued by the State Council on Wednesday. To accelerate offshore oil and natural gas exploration, China will […]
The South China Sea is expected to hold billions of barrels of oil and trillions of cubic feet of gas, but some energy firms are tentative about exploring the region. And for now at least, they seem likely to stay that way. Energy analysts are cautioning companies to stay away from the highly contested body […]
Last Friday, The Straits Times ran a commentary by Mark Valencia titled “Separating fact from fiction in South China Sea conundrum”. Mr Valencia, a maritime policy specialist, is an adjunct senior scholar at the National Institute for South China Sea Studies in Haikou, China. In the article, he highlighted several oft-repeated statements on the South […]
China National Offshore Oil Corp. (CNOOC) has announced its first deepwater gas field discovery in the South China Sea, Xinhua reports. The discovery was made by CNOOC drilling rig HYSY 981, the same drilling platform that sparked a diplomatic spat when it was parked within waters claimed by Vietnam as part of its exclusive economic […]
HANOI—Vietnam and India agreed Monday to expand cooperation in oil and gas exploration and production in contested waters of the South China Sea, despite previous objections from China. The agreement between ONGC Videsh Ltd. and Vietnam Oil and Gas Group, or PetroVietnam, was among several signed between the two countries in Hanoi Monday as part […]
NEW DELHI: Vietnam has renewed India’s lease of two oil blocks in the South China Sea for another year, on the eve of foreign minister Sushma Swaraj’s first visit to Hanoi next week. The move reaffirms India’s position as a continuing commercial stakeholder in a region where territorial disputes between southeast Asian nations and China […]
By whatever metric you choose, China’s recent oil-drilling adventure in the South China Sea was a disaster. No new oil will reach Chinese consumers, no new maritime territory has been gained and regional advantage has been handed to the United States. ASEAN solidarity has held firm and the positions of ‘pro-Beijing’ forces in crucial countries, […]
Global conflicts are increasingly fuelled by the desire for oil and natural gas and the funds they generate. Iraq, Syria, Nigeria, South Sudan, Ukraine, the East and South China Seas: wherever you look, the world is aflame with new or intensifying conflicts. At first glance, these upheavals appear to be independent events, driven by their […]
“Some of the South China Sea’s most productive oil and gas deposits are off the coast of the states Sabah and Sarawak on Malaysia’s side of Borneo,” reported the Wall Street Journal.An international energy consortium recently announced the discovery of natural-gas off Malaysia’s coast. China issued no public objections regarding the announcement. China has also […]