Vietnam says others should respect its right to drill for South China Sea oil

Vietnam says others should respect its right to drill for South China Sea
oil

Vietnam on Friday said other countries should respect its legitimate right
to drill for oil in its waters amid growing tension with China over energy
development in the South China Sea.

The drilling began in mid-June in Vietnam's Block 136/3, which is licensed
to Vietnam's state oil firm, Spain's Repsol and Mubadala Development Co of
the United Arab Emirates.

The block lies inside the U-shaped "nine-dash line" that marks the vast area
that China claims in the sea and overlaps what it says are its own oil
concessions.

China on Tuesday urged a halt to the drilling.

"Vietnam's petroleum-related activities take place in the sea entirely under
the sovereignty and jurisdiction of Vietnam established in accordance with
international law," Vietnamese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Le Thi Thu Hang
said in a statement sent to Reuters.

"Vietnam proposes all concerned parties to respect the legitimate rights and
interests of Vietnam."

This week, the BBC reported that Vietnam had halted drilling there after
Chinese threats, but there was no independent confirmation and neither
Vietnamese officials nor Repsol made any comment on the report.

Thomson Reuters data showed the drilling ship Deepsea Metro I was in the
same position on Friday as it had been since drilling began on the block in
the middle of June.

China claims most of the energy-rich South China Sea through which about
US$5 trillion in ship-borne trade passes every year. Brunei, Malaysia, the
Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam also have claims.

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Link to Original Article:
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asiapacific/vietnam-says-others-should-r
espect-its-right-to-drill-for-south-china-sea-oil-9074258

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John Diecker
APT Consulting Group Co., Ltd.

www.aptthailand.com