Petrovietnam protests location of CNOOC drilling rig

Petrovietnam said it sent a protest letter on May 4 to the president of China National Offshore Oil Corp. regarding the position of a drilling rig, indicating it violated Vietnam’s “sovereign and jurisdiction rights.”

Citing the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, Petrovietnam demanded CNOOC “cease the illegal actions immediately and move the HD-981 drilling rig out of Vietnam’s waters.”

Petrovietnam said the rig location—15° 29’ N and 111° 12’ E—was within the exclusive economic zone and continental shelf of Vietnam. It said CNOOC positioned the rig there on May 2.

CNOOC’s action “was against the cooperative spirit” between the two national oil and gas groups, Petrovietnam said.