An executive of the state-run Chinese Petroleum Corp (中油) yesterday refuted media reports that the company will this week sign a formal contract with its mainland counterpart, China Na-tional Offshore Oil Corp (中國海洋石油), to jointly explore oil and natural gas in the Taiwan Strait.
"[We] haven't confirmed when [both sides] will sign the contract for the joint exploration project," Chinese Petroleum President Pan Wen-yen (潘文炎) told reporters at the Legislative Yuan. "It is still in the preparation stage."
Earlier yesterday, several news media outlets reported that the contract for the joint venture between Chinese Petroleum and China National Offshore is scheduled to be signed on Thursday when China National Offshore President Wei Liu-cheng (衛留成) will arrive in Taipei.
The contract calls for the establishment of a joint venture, the Tainan-Chaoshan Petroleum Co (台南潮汕石油), which will register in the Virgin Islands with an initial capitalization of US$50,000. Chinese Petroleum and China National Offshore would each share 50 percent of the stake, and branch offices will be set up in Taipei and Shenzhen, respectively, within three months after the contract is forged, the reports said.
The project will include seismic testing and drilling in an area covering 15,400km2 in the Tainan basin between south Taiwan and China's Guangdong province, the reports said, citing an unnamed Chinese Petroleum official.
Under the contract, the new venture will prospect for oil in an area covering 15,400km2 near the median line of the Taiwan Strait and centered on a spot 21-23 degrees north latitude and 118 degrees east longitude.
Vice Chairman Lu Chi-cheng (呂桔誠) of the Commission of National Corporations last month said that the Cabinet-level Mainland Affairs Council has green-lighted the cooperative venture.
But Pan said he has so far not heard anything from the Executive Yuan and he is not sure when and where both sides will sign the deal.
Initial geophysical studies under a two-year contract signed in July 1996 across the strait had indicated possible rich oil and natural gas reserves in the area.
But the cooperation was halted in late 1996 after Taiwan imposed new controls on investment and trade links with China as tensions rose over then Taiwanese president Lee Teng-hui's (
FREEDOM OF NAVIGATION: The UK would continue to reinforce ties with Taiwan ‘in a wide range of areas’ as a part of a ‘strong unofficial relationship,’ a paper said The UK plans to conduct more freedom of navigation operations in the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea, British Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs David Lammy told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. British Member of Parliament Desmond Swayne said that the Royal Navy’s HMS Spey had passed through the Taiwan Strait “in pursuit of vital international freedom of navigation in the South China Sea.” Swayne asked Lammy whether he agreed that it was “proper and lawful” to do so, and if the UK would continue to carry out similar operations. Lammy replied “yes” to both questions. The
‘OF COURSE A COUNTRY’: The president outlined that Taiwan has all the necessary features of a nation, including citizens, land, government and sovereignty President William Lai (賴清德) discussed the meaning of “nation” during a speech in New Taipei City last night, emphasizing that Taiwan is a country as he condemned China’s misinterpretation of UN Resolution 2758. The speech was the first in a series of 10 that Lai is scheduled to give across Taiwan. It is the responsibility of Taiwanese citizens to stand united to defend their national sovereignty, democracy, liberty, way of life and the future of the next generation, Lai said. This is the most important legacy the people of this era could pass on to future generations, he said. Lai went on to discuss
MISSION: The Indo-Pacific region is ‘the priority theater,’ where the task of deterrence extends across the entire region, including Taiwan, the US Pacific Fleet commander said The US Navy’s “mission of deterrence” in the Indo-Pacific theater applies to Taiwan, Pacific Fleet Commander Admiral Stephen Koehler told the South China Sea Conference on Tuesday. The conference, organized by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), is an international platform for senior officials and experts from countries with security interests in the region. “The Pacific Fleet’s mission is to deter aggression across the Western Pacific, together with our allies and partners, and to prevail in combat if necessary, Koehler said in the event’s keynote speech. “That mission of deterrence applies regionwide — including the South China Sea and Taiwan,” he
UNPRECEDENTED: In addition to the approved recall motions, cases such as Ma Wen-chun’s in Nantou are still under review, while others lack enough signatures The Central Election Commission (CEC) announced yesterday that a recall vote would take place on July 26, after it approved the first batch of recall motions targeting 24 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers and Hsinchu Mayor Ann Kao (高虹安). Taiwan is in the midst of an unprecedented wave of mass recall campaigns, following a civil society push that echoed a call made by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) in January to initiate signature drives aimed at unseating KMT legislators. Under the Civil Servants Election and Recall Act (公職人員選舉罷免法), Taiwanese can initiate a recall of district-elected lawmakers by collecting
RSS