That larger issue remains unsettled. But energy companies tied to the two countries are seeking a way forward. Forum Energy is mainly owned by the Philippine-based Philex Petroleum. That company has been trying to form a partnership with CNOOC to help it meet an agreement to drill two gas wells. The proposal calls for the work to take place at Reed Bank, just west of Palawan Province in the western Philippines.
China claims control over almost all of the South China Sea, which China says includes Reed Bank. The Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan also make partial or total claims to those busy waters.
Philippines officials say they hope to find a way forward by learning from an agreement between Vietnam and China. The two nations agreed to explore waters in the Gulf of Tonkin in the South China Sea. But it is not clear how they would divide the gains from a productive well.
Yang Fang is a researcher at the Center for Asia and Globalization at Singapore’s National University. She says the two nations are depending on the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. Under the UN treaty, competing sides are permitted to make a provisional agreement on water borders. Any final decision on who owns what would not affect this provisional agreement.
Yang Fang says Vietnam has very open, continuing communication with China. She says this takes place both through meetings of higher-level officials and communication between the countries.
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2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25