China Finds 100 Billion Cubic Meter of Natural Gas Near Spratly Islands

02/12/2015 | 7:21 0 Posted in Business and Finance, Local Issues

02/02/2015 – Beijing | China said its main offshore oil and gas producer, the China National Offshore Oil Corp, is determined to extract as many as 100 billion cubic meters of natural gas from the South China Sea, a disputed area claimed by several Asian countries including the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Taiwan.

The Lingshui 17-2 gas field was discovered 150 kilometers south of China’s southernmost island of Hainan, and the Ministry of Land and Resources has approved it as a large-scale find, the official Xinhua News Agency said.

Xizhou Zhou, senior director and head of China for IHS Energy, said that 100 billion cubic meters was a “decent amount but not that substantial,” and equivalent to about six to seven months of Chinese gas supply currently.

“In addition, new discoveries often take years to develop, so by the time this gas starts to flow, the Chinese gas market could be much bigger than it is today,” he said.

Although the size is modest, China is serious in extracting the said natural resource. Another wave of tensions may arise once China starts its operation. China claims virtually all of the South China Sea.

China National Offshore Oil Corp.’s exploration rig made the discovery about a month after it withdrew in July from a tense maritime standoff with Vietnam in the latter’s exclusive economic zone.

Two months earlier, a wave of violent protests triggered after China laced a rig on contested waters off Vietnam resulting to two Chinese workers death and 140 injured.

China’s placing of the rig in contested waters off Vietnam two months earlier triggered a wave of violent protests.

Since the Aquino III administration, China has been active in building settlements on the islands claimed by the Philippines but, Aquino has yet to do something of significance to press China to leave Spratly Islands.

Although many countries are claiming parts of the reefs, China is considered the main antagonist in this continued South China Sea drama.

/Fanny Jalacjac/ Assisted Press Beijing/