China ends illegal drilling near VN’s Hoang Sa

VGP - The China National Petroleum Corp. (CNPC) announced on July 15 that it had completed its drilling and exploration off Vietnam’s Hoang Sa (Paracel) archipelago in the East Sea, and is relocating its rig in Hainan Islands.

July 16, 2014 9:02 AM GMT+7

Illustration photo

The company started drilling two wells in early May and completed the work on May 27 and on July 15 respectively, China’s state-run news agency Xinhua quoted the company’s statement as saying.

The rig illegally operated in Viet Nam’s exclusive economic zone despite of strong protest from Viet Nam and the international community.

In early May, China illegally dispatched the rig Haiyang Shiyou-981 as well as a large fleet of armed vessels, military ships and aircraft to Viet Nam’s waters and positioned the rig 80 miles deep into Viet Nam’s continental shelf and exclusive economic zone.

It latter expanded the scale of operation and moved the rig to 15 degrees 33 minutes 36 seconds north latitude and 111 degrees 34 minutes 11 seconds east longitude, 60 nautical miles deep inside Viet Nam’s waters.-VNA