China finds natural gas reserve in disputed South China Sea

China today announced the discovery of a huge gas field in the politically charged South China Sea that could yield over 100 billion cubic metres of natural gas, raising its stakes in the waters claimed by several South East Asian nations.
The Lingshui 17-2, approved as a large-scale gas field by Ministry of Land and Resource, was discovered 150 kilometres south of China's southernmost island of Hainan.
State-run China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) said Lingshui 17-2's average operational depth is 1,500 metres below the sea surface.
The company's deepwater drilling rig CNOOC 981 discovered Lingshui 17-2, the country's first self-support deepwater gas field, in September 2014, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

Xie Yuhong, a manager with CNOOC, said the approved gas reserves of Lingshui 17-2 will help the corporation build a gas trunk line to connect other gas fields in the SCS, so as to meet the huge gas demand of southern provinces, Hong Kong and Macao.
The field, however, could meet only about six to seven months of Chinese gas supply currently, experts say.

Observers say the discovery may raise further tensions in the South China Sea (SCS), one of the world's busiest shipping routes but dominated by overlapping claims by several nations including Malaysia, Vietnam, Taiwan, the Philippines, Brunei and China, which virtually claims all of the sea.

China-Vietnam ties nose-dived two months ago after Beijing placed a rig in the contested waters that triggered violent protests in Vietnam. Two Chinese workers were killed and 140 injured in the violence.
China has also objected to India's ONGC accepting a Vietnamese invite to take-up oil exploration in the SCS.