The China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) is the largest producer of offshore oil and gas in China. Production statistics should therefore be pretty much indicative of what is happening along China’s coastline. Data from annual reports show that net oil and gas liquids production in 4 key offshore areas increased rapidly in the first decade of this century but then remained fairly flat after 2010. Gas production peaked in 2011 and was 7% lower in 2014. At the recent 14 th Asia Security Summit in Singapore – organised by the Centre for International and Strategic Studies (CSIS, Washington) – media focus was on several artificial islands China is building on half sunken reefs in the South China Sea. Dredging…. Fig 1: Fiery Cross Reef reclamation started in Aug 2014 http://amti.csis.org/fiery-cross-reef-tracker/ South China Sea dispute: US defence secretary demands Beijing immediately halt island-building The United States has demanded Beijing […]