mandag 27. juli 2020

China’s Pressure Costs Vietnam $1 Billion in the South China Sea

Vietnam has agreed to pay around a billion dollars to two international oil companies after cancelling their South China Sea operations following pressure from China. A well-placed oil industry source has told The Diplomat that Vietnam’s state-owned energy company PetroVietnam will pay the money to Repsol of Spain and Mubadala of the United Arab Emirates in “termination” and “compensation” arrangements. In a statement, a Repsol spokesman said he “would not be willing to confirm or deny the figures” but an analysis of the company’s financial statements suggests that a very large amount of money is involved.