Japan moves on own drilling in disputed East China Sea gas fields

Japan moves on own drilling in disputed East China Sea gas fields

Tokyo


Amid heightened tensions with China, the Japanese government has finally set
in motion the process of granting domestic private companies the right to
conduct exploratory drilling in disputed East China Sea gas fields--a step it
had been reluctant to take for the past decades. Japanese foreign minister
Nobutaka Machimura will put forth Tokyo's exploration plans to Beijing during
his two-day visit to China Apr 17-18, officials at the Ministry of Economy,
Trade and Industry said Wednesday. But Japan has not given up efforts for a
diplomatic solution. Machimura will reiterate his government's request for
China to stop development of the contested gas fields and to provide Tokyo
with its exploration data, the METI officials said. Japan in July 2004
launched a geophysical survey of the disputed waters, and last month released
a report to back its claims that Chinese development of the Chunxiao and
Duanqiao fields could tap into reserves under Japanese jurisdiction. The
fields lie just west of a UN-set median line that China does not recognize.

Tokyo's latest maneuver could be a hardening of stance on an increasingly
knotty issue that is coming to a head with China gearing up to begin gas
production from the Chunxiao field in August this year or posturing amid an
overall deterioration of ties between the neighbors. China in recent days has
seen growing and violent protests sparked by a newly published right-wing
nationalist text book in Japan that allegedly whitewashes the North Asian
country's World War II-era crimes in Asia. Japan could also be resorting to
strong-arm tactics after regular discussions on the gas spat over the past
months saw Beijing consistently stonewalling Tokyo's requests for it to cease
exploration in the disputed area and make available its exploration data.
Japanese upstream players Japan Petroleum Exploration Co Ltd and Teikoku Oil
had several years ago applied to the trade ministry for exploratory drilling
rights in the East China Sea. METI had stalled over its decision until
state-owned China National Offshore Oil Corp began drilling in the area.

It could take several months for the government to actually hand out the
contracts for exploratory drilling, industry sources said. Also, JAPEX is now
reluctant to proceed because of the tension, a company official said. "Even if
the ministry grants us exploratory drilling rights, I don't think we will
start drilling until the area is confirmed safe," he said. Meanwhile, Chinese
State Councilor Tang Jiaxuan Tuesday strongly warned Japan against allowing
its companies to start exploratory drilling in the area under contention,
Japan's Kyodo News Service reported. During a meeting with Kyodo News
president Toyohiko Yamanouchi in Beijing, the former Chinese foreign affairs
minister said the move would "bring about the further complication and
sharpening of the East China Sea situation, and would fundamentally change the
nature of the issue." CNOOC chairman Fu Chengyu in end-March dismissed the
suggestion that the Chunxiao field 5 km west of the "median line" extended
into Japanese waters, and insisted the development would proceed as scheduled.

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