Manila put off drilling for oil and gas around Reed Bank in the South China Sea in 2014
Plans in the Philippines to reopen a tract of the disputed South China Sea for oil and gas exploration is likely to complicate the foreign policy of Manila’s new friend Beijing, which claims the same waters, and adds to a regional pushback against Chinese maritime influence.
Philippines oil drilling plans
The Philippine Department of Energy is ready to restart drilling at Reed Bank, an 8,866 square-kilometer table mount west of Palawan Island, domestic news reports say. In December 2014 the government suspended those plans to prepare for world court arbitration over which country had a stronger claim to the feature.
That court in The Hague ruled that Reed Bank falls within a Philippine ocean exclusive economic zone. China rejected the outcome and in May warned Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte against reopening it for exploration, Philippine media reports say. China claims more than 90 percent of the sea.
“You had Duterte saying he spoke to (Chinese President) Xi Jinping in May and China threatened to take action if they started drilling, ” said Carl Thayer, Southeast Asia-specialized emeritus professor at The University of New South Wales in Australia. “It’s a sensitive time. July 12 was the anniversary of the arbitral tribunal decision.”
Ismael Ocampo, director with the Department of Energy’s Resource Development Bureau, said this month he expected the country to lift the drilling suspension by December, per news reports from Manila. The department did not answer a VOA request for comment.
China with a ‘wait and see’ strategy
Chinese officials have kept quiet about Reed Bank this month, though on July 12 a foreign ministry spokesman in Beijing said China was “dedicated from start to finish to negotiating with related countries to resolve disputes” related to maritime sovereignty.
