ABSTRACT
Two Chinese oil companies are present in the South China Sea: China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) and China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC). Compared to others, the actions of CNPC appear to be much more cautious. In recent years, almost every year CNOOC would announce a batch of open areas in the South China Sea for foreign companies to cooperate with CNOOC based on the PSC (production sharing contract) model. Besides political considerations, there are also commercial and technical reasons explaining why Chinese oil companies have not ventured deep into the South China Sea so far. Among the neighboring countries, Vietnam is the most active in exploration of the South China Sea. The Philippines is also involved in the exploration of the South China Sea. Malaysia's South China Sea strategy is "talk less about sovereignty and produce more oil".
