SOUTH CHINA SEA OIL

REUTERS - Any deal between the Philippines and a Chinese firm to jointly explore for gas in the Reed Bank of the South China Sea will be illegal unless China recognizes the southeast Asian nation's sovereign rights there, a Philippine judge said on Monday.

Manila has identified two areas in the crowded waterway suitable for joint exploration and the two countries seek a way to tackle the diplomatic and legal headache of jointly exploring in the waters, but without addressing the issue of sovereignty.

The Reed Bank is claimed by both sides, but international law says it falls within the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of the Philippines. China says it falls within the so-called nine-dash line on maps recording its historic rights in the area.

Antonio Carpio, the acting top judge of the Supreme Court, said it was legal for the Philippines' energy ministry to talk to state-owned China National Offshore Oil Corp (CNOOC) as a possible sub-contractor.

"There's no problem as long as CNOOC will recognize that that is our exclusive economic zone," he told news channel ANC in an interview."But that is the problem, because CNOOC will not recognize (Philippine jurisdiction)."

Carpio was speaking as an expert on international law and staunch advocate for the Philippines to assert its maritime sovereignty claims.

He was among the lawyers involved in the Philippines' legal challenge against China, which Manila brought to the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague in 2013.

The tribunal, in its 2016 ruling, invalidated China's nine-dash line, making clear that the Reed Bank fell within the Philippines' EEZ, and that Manila had sovereign rights to resources there.

China is a signatory to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) but it does not recognize the Hague court ruling.

"The stumbling block has always been the insistence of China that we recognize their sovereign rights," Carpio said.

"We cannot do that anymore because there's already a ruling. And the (Philippine) constitution says the state shall protect its marine wealth in its exclusive economic zone, it's very specific."

The Reed Bank was the site of exploration by the Philippines' PXP Energy Corp to evaluate the block's gas reserves, until the energy ministry suspended activities there in late 2014 because of the arbitration case.

PXP has had talks with CNOOC for possible joint exploration and development, but the arbitration halted negotiations. Carpio said who should collect taxes was also an issue between the two companies.

Last week, Philippine presidential spokesman Harry Roque, said any potential deals between Manila and Beijing should be agreed with a company and not the Chinese government.

On Monday, he said the Philippines and China would have to sign a treaty to enter into joint exploration and development in the Reed Bank.

"That's on the assumption that (the Reed Bank) is contested territory," he told reporters."We have no treaty on joint exploration as of yet."

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Earlier:

2017, November, 29, 09:40:00 SOUTH CHINA SEA OIL OGJ - Phase II production from Weizhou 12-2 oil field has been brought on stream, CNOOC Ltd. said of its project in Beibu Gulf in the South China Sea.

2017, November, 13, 10:40:00 SOUTH CHINA CEA CALM Vietnam’s state television said Chinese President Xi Jinping had told Vietnam’s General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong he wanted to work with Southeast Asian nations on a code of conduct in the sea. China’s Xinhua news agency said China and Vietnam had agreed to properly handle maritime issues and strive to maintain peace and stability.

2017, November, 3, 12:15:00 SOUTH CHINA SEA LNG The South China Sea is a major route for liquefied natural gas (LNG) trade, and in 2016, almost 40% of global LNG trade, or about 4.7 trillion cubic feet (Tcf), passed through the South China Sea.

2017, September, 13, 15:10:00 IMF: SOUTHEAST ASIA'S TRANSFORMATION IMF - When we think about Asia’s economic future, we know that this future is being built on strong foundations—on the richness and diversity of its cultures, on the incredible energy and ingenuity of the people who have changed the world by transforming their own economies. China and India have been driving the greatest poverty reduction in human history by creating the world’s largest middle classes. In a single generation, Vietnam has moved from being one of the world’s poorest nations to being a middle-income country.

2017, July, 7, 07:35:00 VIETNAM - INDIAN DEAL Vietnam has extended an Indian oil concession in the South China Sea and begun drilling in another area it disputes with China in moves that could heighten tensions over who owns what in the vital maritime region.

2017, May, 19, 12:35:00 SOUTH CHINA SEA GAS China's attempt to test marine natural gas hydrates, a future energy source, has turned out to be a success, making it the first country to secure continuous and stable gas supply in marine gas hydrate exploitation, according to the Ministry of Land and Resources.

2017, April, 6, 18:45:00 SOUTH CHINA SEA SOVEREIGNTY China claims almost all of a large stretch of sea between Taiwan, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Brunei, Vietnam and Japan. The trouble is, between them, these seven other states all do too.