THE GROWTH IN ENERGY ACTIVITIES IN THE SOUTH CHINA SEA – ARE WE TRULY PREPARED?

ABSTRACT Stretching from Singapore and the Strait of Malacca chokepoint in the southwest to the Strait of Taiwan in the northeast, the South China Sea is one of the most important energy trade routes in the world. Almost a third of global crude oil and over half of global liquefied natural gas (LNG) passes through the South China Sea each year. Coupled with the significant economy growth from China, that is the world's largest oil importer, protecting the flow of oil becomes a prime consideration of the South East and East Asia governments. All of these factors make the South China Sea to hold one of the highest potential for oil spill, be it by quantity of oil or frequency of energy activities. In the region, our industry faces increasing political challenge due to the disputed territorial waters and hence if an incident affecting multiple countries such as an oil spill occurs, the response may be chaotic if not adequately prepared for. The duty is on industry to work with regional governmental groups to promote joined-up response that is sufficiently robust and flexible to deal with both marine and well-control incidents. Other factors that could pose a major challenge are the understanding of response tool kits and prioritization given to national environmental laws and regulations which will vary amongst the affected administrations. Has there been sufficient investigation into the range of national laws which could help/hinder inter-regional approach? What about each of the area contingency plan along the South China Sea? Is there sufficient data on the crude oil characteristics in this region and the availability of Stockpile of equipment along this stretch of the trade route? This paper provides an overview of the oil industry's response to the growing energy activities in the South China Sea using case studies to illustrate the situations that are still occurring in practice.