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