China discovers massive oilfield in South China Sea, conducts test drilling

Daily production of 413 barrels of crude oil and 68,000 cubic meters of natural gas has been yielded after test drilling, a state news agency reported.

Published on: Mar 31, 2025, 05:32:12 IST

By HT News Desk

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The China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) has reportedly discovered a 100 million tonne oilfield in South China Sea, state news agency Xinhua reported on Monday.

An aerial view shows the BRP Sierra Madre on the contested Second Thomas Shoal, locally known as Ayungin, in the South China Sea. (REUTERS/File)

The newly discovered oilfield in the eastern South China Sea - the Huizhou 19-6 oilfield - was about 170 kilometres from Shenzhen in south China's Guangdong Province, the news agency said.

Daily production of 413 barrels of crude oil and 68,000 cubic meters of natural gas has been yielded after test drilling, it added.

According to the US Energy Information Administration cited in a news agency AFP report, the South China Sea is mostly underexplored because of territorial disputes, but most discovered oil and gas are in uncontested areas.

China claims as its own almost all of the South China Sea, but this is disputed by the Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam, Indonesia and Brunei.

China conducts military patrol in South China Sea

On Friday, the Chinese military said it conducted a patrol in the South China Sea, an exercise that came on the same day US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth reaffirmed Washington's commitment to Manila.

Also Read: China, Philippines trade barbs after ships collide in South China Sea

A spokesman for the Southern Theatre Command of the People's Liberation Army said on Saturday that the Philippines frequently enlisted foreign countries to organise "joint patrols" and "disseminated illegal claims" in the region, destabilising the area, according to a Reuters report.

Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth met his Filipino counterpart Gilberto Teodoro and Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr on Friday in Manila, the first stop in his Asia tour that also includes Japan. The same day, the United States, Japan and the Philippines held naval drills in the South China Sea.

The Philippine embassy in Beijing did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.

Commerce of around $3 trillion move annually through the South China Sea, the largest marginal sea of the western Pacific.

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HT News Desk
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