Vietnam protests Cnooc's move to offer 9 blocks in South China Sea
BY VU TRONG KHANH
HANOI--Vietnam late Tuesday launched a formal protest against China National Offshore Oil Corp.'s move to offer nine blocks in the South China Sea for joint operation with foreign companies, stating that the blocks are in Vietnamese waters.
"Vietnam strongly protests [Cnooc's offer] and demands that the Chinese side cancel such an illegal offer," Foreign Ministry spokesman Luong Thanh Nghi said in a statement posted on the ministry's website.
The blocks are located within Vietnam's 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zone, Nghi said in the statement.
Cnooc said the blocks, in waters 300-4,000 meters deep, cover an area of 160,124.38 square kilometers. Seven of the blocks are located in the Zhongjianan Basin and two in areas covering parts of the Wan'an and Nanweixi basins.
Dow Jones Newswires
06/27/2012