Cnooc continues South China Sea expansion

Chinese oil major Cnooc (CEO.NYSE; 0883.HKG) said on Tuesday it planned to expand oil production in the South China Sea after failing to reach its annual growth target since 2011, Bloomberg reported. The offshore oil giant is developing new projects based on findings near the island of Weizhou, 80 nautical miles east of the border with Vietnam. The Weizhou rigs produce 45,700 barrels of oil equivalent a day and are Cnooc’s biggest oil producer in the western part of the South China Sea. The announcement comes soon after a Chinese oilrig parked near the Paracel Islands, a disputed territory, and sparked anti-Chinese riots all over Vietnam.