Xi’s Armada Causes The Philippines, Vietnam To Import More LNG

This was supposed to be the year that Vietnam reaped the benefits from one of its largest natural gas discoveries, reported Philip Heijmans for Bloomberg News.

If all had gone to plan, the "Blue Whale” project, led by Exxon Mobil would have gone online late last year. I Photo: ExxonMobil

An estimated 150 billion cubic meters of the fuel, enough to power a city the size of Hanoi for decades, was discovered 80 kilometers from Vietnam’s central coast in 2011.

If all had gone to plan, the "Blue Whale” project led by Exxon Mobil would have gone online late last year. However, it has not happened — and an armada of Chinese fishing boats, coast guard cutters, and a giant vessel dubbed the "Monster” are making sure it won’t anytime soon.

The Philippines is slated to spend nearly $1.4 billion on liquefied natural gas (LNG) purchases through September 2025, while Vietnam is set to pay $370 million during the same period, according to calculations based on Bloomberg NEF forecasts, also reported by Japan Times.

Beijing’s vast claims across the South China Sea — based on a vague 1947 map showing what’s become known as a "10-dash line” through the waterway — were rejected by a United Nations-backed tribunal in 2016.

But President Xi Jinping dismissed the ruling, and ever-growing tensions in the disputed waters all point to an uncomfortable truth for Southeast Asian nations, as well as the US: In this standoff, China is winning.

"The tactics have worked. China has effectively established a veto over new oil developments within the U-shaped line,” said Bill Hayton, author of "The South China Sea: The Struggle for Power in Asia.”