China confirms the discovery of a large gas field in the South China Sea southeast of Hainan province, according to several media including the South China Morning Post.
The gas field, called Lingshui 36-1, is estimated to contain more than 100 billion cubic meters of natural gas and lies in an average water depth of about 1,500 meters. The breakthrough was announced by the China National Offshore Oil Corporation, CNOOC, in June and was registered by Chinese authorities on Wednesday.
The discovery of the gas field will help increase energy security in China, which is the world’s largest importer of natural gas with around USD 64.3bn spent on 120 million tons of liquefied natural gas and pipeline gas by 2023.
Oil and gas development in the South China Sea is likely to become the center of more political tensions with surrounding countries that also claim areas of the South China Sea.
Several Chinese coast guard vessels have reportedly disrupted the operation of Malaysia’s gas projects and Chinese and Vietnamese vessels have had repeated confrontations over Vietnam’s oil drilling operations in the disputed Vanguard Bank area over the past several years.
Source:https://energywatch.com