Malaysia expects more Chinese boats in South China Sea as Petronas drills for oil

Work on the Kasawari field, which contains an estimated 3 trillion cubic feet of recoverable gas resources, has attracted Chinese vessels to Malaysian waters

The increased incursions in the South China Sea have led Malaysia to describe its otherwise productive ties with Beijing as ‘difficult to quantify’

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A Malaysian coastguard vessel. File photo: EPA-EFE

Published: 8:26pm, 20 Oct 2021Updated: 12:25am, 21 Oct 2021

Malaysian Foreign Minister Saifuddin Abdullah on Wednesday said he expected more Chinese vessels to enter the country’s waters “for as long as” the state-owned Petronas oil and gas company develops a gas field in Malaysia’s exclusive economic zone in the South China Sea.

He also said Malaysia’s current relationship with China was “very difficult to quantify but is much better now”, despite what happened in the South China Sea.

Petronas is developing the Kasawari gas field in Malaysia’s EEZ, which is situated some 200 kilometres (124 miles) away from the coastal town of Bintulu in Sarawak.

The Kasawari gas project is located in Block SK316 in Central Luconia Province, Malaysia.

The project has attracted Chinese coastguard boats off the coast of Sabah and Sarawak, particularly at the South Luconia shoals, Saifuddin told a webinar in Jakarta organised by the Foreign Policy Community of Indonesia.

“I think for as long as Petronas is working on Kasawari, we can expect China to be visiting that area perhaps more often,” he said.

“We have always protested. I have lost count of the number of protest notes we have sent to China. We will be steadfast and continue to respond diplomatically to them.”