The Chinese art of persuasion
Recent Chinese NOC activity in the South China Sea underscores a growing interest in the disputed region, as Beijing seeks to bring regional states around to its way of thinking
China is adopting a lower-key approach in the South China Sea as it looks to build up oil and gas production capacity. The region covers a wide range of exploration basins, from the mature (Pearl River Mouth, Sarawak) to potentially higher impact frontier basins, such as deepwater Sabah and Phu Khanh. Chinese national oil companies (NOCs) have set themselves ambitious expansion targets. In its 2018-25 plan, Cnooc aims to double its proven oil and gas reserves by 2025 to about 5bn bl oe. That means making more discoveries on the same scale as its 100bn m3 Lingshui gas find in the South China Sea. The region is now firmly in Cnooc's sights. In early April, the state-owned company completed Chi
Also in this section
14 April 2026
The GECF has warned it may revise its projections for demand this year downwards in light of conflict in the Middle East, although it maintains its forecasts for 2027 and onwards
13 April 2026
Petroleum Economist analysis highlights sharp shift from crude oversupply to market deficit, with Iraq and Kuwait badly affected and key producers Saudi Arabia and the UAE also seeing output sharply lower
13 April 2026
Turkmenistan is moving ahead with a modest expansion of the giant Galkynysh field to sustain gas deliveries abroad, but persistent delays to other key pipeline projects and geopolitical risks continue to constrain its export ambitions
13 April 2026
Expensive electricity has forced out swathes of energy-intensive industry and now threatens the country’s ability to attract future investment in datacentres and the digital economy
