China National Offshore Oil Corp. (CNOOC) announced June 25 that it would open nine offshore oil blocks to joint operation with foreign companies. Seven of the blocks are located in the Zhongjiannan Basin and two are located in the Wan'an and Nanweixi basins — a total area of 160,000 square kilometers (about 62,000 square miles). Most important, all are on the western fringe of the so-called nine-dashed line, which demarcates China's claimed waters and overlaps with Vietnam's 200-nautical mile Exclusive Economic Zone. In recent years, Beijing has turned to offshore energy exploration as a means of physically substantiating its territorial claims in the South China Sea. However, doing so requires first countering and overcoming the claims of neighboring countries. Indeed, shortly after the announcement, Vietnam issued a statement condemning the move and calling on CNOOC to withdraw the invitation, noting that such a bid violated Vietnam's territorial sovereignty. Despite its efforts to frame exploration as a cooperative activity (and thus neutralize political tensions), Beijing's moves in the sea are likely to exacerbate regional competition for energy assets. China will continue to utilize energy exploration as both a means and rationale for exerting territorial claims in the South China Sea. This in turn may exacerbate regional competition for energy assets.
