From Asia Times
"On April 5, Russian energy giant Gazprom plunged into the maritime dispute between Vietnam and China with the announcement it would help state-owned PetroVietnam develop a lucrative off-shore energy field. By taking a major stake in the 5.2 and 5.3 blocks located in the Nam Con Son basin, Gazprom brings both exploration know-how and Russian political clout to the deal.
"Just how much oil and gas lie beneath the contested maritime area? According to a much publicized Chinese study, the South China Sea could hold as much as 213 billion barrels of oil, or the equivalent of 80% of Saudi Arabia's known reserves. In a separate BP estimate, the entire region may also contain 2 quadrillion cubic feet of natural gas, more than five times the known natural gas reserves of North America.
Given its massive resource needs, China seems motivated to seize this entire energy bounty for itself. From Beijing's perspective, it is being robbed of around 1.4 million barrels of oil per day from illicit production by Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines."
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