China's first deep water oil drill will begin production on Wednesday in the South China Sea in an area not far from where China and Philippines have been locked in an escalating dispute since last month.
The sixth-generation semi-submersible CNOOC 981 will begin operations in a sea area 320km southeast of Hong Kong at a water depth of 1,500 metres, China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) said in a press release. It will be the first independent deep-water oil drilling by a Chinese company.

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