Some of the world’s biggest energy companies, including ExxonMobiland Gazprom, have been thrust into the deteriorating territorial dispute between China and Vietnam in the resource-rich South China Sea.
Vietnam accused China yesterday of acting “illegally” after state-owned China National Offshore Oil Corporation (Cnooc) invited foreign companies to tender for exploration rights in an area that Hanoi says infringes on blocks that it has already licensed to ExxonMobil of the US and Russia’s Gazprom.
Do Van Hau, chief executive of PetroVietnam, the state oil company, told reporters that nine exploration blocks put out for tender by Cnooc on Saturday were “located deeply within Vietnam’s continental shelf”.