Asian maritime boundary disputes driven by oil, gas demand

A subcommittee of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee has been told that growing demand for oil and gas is one of the main drivers of increasing “friction and tension” over maritime boundaries in waters of East and Southeast Asia.

“In recent years, we have observed an increase in friction and tension over these disputes,” said US Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Robert Scher, referring to what he called a series of “persistent territorial disputes” over maritime territories in Southeast Asia and the South China Sea.
While Scher said the sources of the rising friction are varied, he told members of the Subcommittee on East Asian and Pacific Affairs that “increased demand for oil and natural gas naturally increases the perceived stakes among claimants in securing resource rights.”

Scher also said that China, while intent on securing its own interests in the region, “actively opposes any activity by other claimants to assert their own sovereignty claims” and that “China has increased and will continue to increase its force posture in the South China Sea.”

Peter Dutton, associate professor at the US Naval War College, said China was more likely to use its position of strength as the means to achieve its goals, either now or in the future.

Dan Blumenthal, resident fellow of the American Enterprise Institute, said that of all the regional territorial disputes, “the Sino-Japanese quarrel in the East China Sea is the most vexing, and perhaps most dangerous.”

Penn Energy