Page 4 - AsianOil Week 48 2021

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Report: China demanded Indonesia

end South China Sea drilling

POLICY CHINA officially called on Indonesia earlier this
year to end its exploration in disputed waters of
the South China Sea, Reuters reported this week.
Chinese diplomats wrote a letter to the Indo-
nesian Foreign Ministry to halt drilling at a
temporary offshore rig, Indonesian lawmaker
Muhammad Farhan told Reuters on December
1. Farhan added that the diplomats claimed the
exploration work was being conducted in Chi-
nese waters.
Reuters cited three unnamed sources who
were briefed on the matter as confirming the
letter’s existence, with two adding that China
had made repeated demands for the drilling to
be halted.
However, none of the newswire’s sources pro-
vided any details on when the request was issued
or to which exploration activities it referred.
An Indonesian foreign ministry spokesman
declined to comment on the two countries’ dip-
lomatic communication, as it was “private in
nature and its content cannot be shared”.
Instead, the newswire suggested the incident
in question revolved around the arrival of the
Noble Clyde Boudreaux semi-submersible rig at
Harbour Energy’s Tuna Block in the Natuna Sea
on June 30. Beijing’s nine-dash line claim in waters Indo-
That incident led to first a Chinese Coast nesia claims as its own under the 1982 United
Guard vessel being sent to the site, followed by an Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea
Indonesian Coast Guard vessel. Tensions esca- (UNCLOS).
lated when a Chinese research ship arrived in the China claims sovereignty over large swathes
area, followed by US aircraft carrier USS Ronald of the South China Sea via its Nine Dash Line,
Reagan and four Chinese warships. a boundary delineated by historical maps. Its
Commenting on the letter, Farhan added: claim has brought it into dispute with the Philip-
“Our reply was very firm: that we are not going to pines, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei and
stop the drilling because it is our sovereign right,” Taiwan to a greater or lesser extent.
Farhan, who sits on the Indonesian par- The Indonesian government kept quiet
liament’s national security committee, about the matter in order to avoid conflict with
described the letter as “a bit threatening”, as it China, Reuters quoted Farhan and two other
is the first effort by China’s diplomats to push sources as saying.™

SOUTH ASIA

Aramco disputes claims about Reliance deal

PROJECTS & SAUDI Aramco’s president and CEO this week Aramco has been discussing a deal to acquire
COMPANIES rejected that talks over a major downstream a 20% stake in Reliance’s spun-off oil-to-chemicals
tie-up between the company and India’s Reli- (O2C) division for around $15bn since 2019, but
ance Industries Ltd (RIL) had been scrapped. the Indian firm reported last week that “due to [the]
Speaking to Arab News, Amin Nasser said that evolving nature of Reliance’s business portfolio,
the talks had been paused while Reliance carries Reliance and Saudi Aramco have mutually deter-
out a restructuring process, adding that they mined that it would be beneficial for both parties
would “continue to discuss further with them to re-evaluate the proposed investment in O2C
in the future after they finish the restructuring”. business in light of the changed context”.

P4 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 48 03•December•2021