Beijing Keeps Busy in East China Sea Oil and Gas
Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative
“China constructed two new oil and gas platforms in the East China Sea in May and June, drawing formal protests from Japan. But in addition to these new permanent structures, satellite imagery and automatic identification system (AIS) data shows that at least three mobile drilling rigs have also been active in the area, supporting both production and exploration activities—and potentially laying the groundwork for the construction of more permanent platforms in the future.”
“As in years past, the mobile rigs on several occasions linked up with fixed platforms, likely to increase production through infill drilling or recompletion of existing wells. But perhaps more interestingly, the drilling rigs were also seen operating for months at a time from at least 12 locations with no existing production facilities. Depending on the results of the exploratory drilling at these sites, they could be targets for future construction of production platforms. Given China’s consistently assertive approach to maritime resource exploitation, it is almost certain that the latest two fixed platforms will not be the last.”
https://amti.csis.org/beijing-keeps-busy-in-east-china-sea-oil-and-gas/