China Prevents the Philippines from Extracting Oil Offshore the South China Sea
The Chinese fleet, including the coast guard, does not allow Philippine drilling ships into the waters.
China does not allow the Philippines to extract oil in the South China Sea. It’s all about Beijing’s claims to the region – and its fleet of fishing boats and coast guard boats stationed there.
The Philippines has long viewed energy wealth off its west coast as a way to reduce its growing dependence on imported raw materials, Bloomberg writes.
The governments of this country have been developing projects to develop offshore resources and strengthen energy security. But the plans are not being implemented because the Philippine economy is in crisis and energy supplies are under threat.
The South China Sea region, according to US Department of Energy estimates, contains about 3.6 billion barrels of oil and 40.3 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.
