Petronas Block 310 offshore Johor likely to go to China, along with control of Middle Rocks

by Ganesh Sahathevan

It has been previously reported on this blog that  PM Najib may have handed the Luconia and Greater Sarawak oil and gas provinces to China and that the loss to Malaysia may exceed Badawi's USD 100 billion Brunei deal.

It now appears that as a result of Najib's Pedra Branca/Middle Rocks gambit which gives China effective control of the waters off south-east Johor, China may well gain control of Petronas Block 310. Being an "open" block, it does not have to be put out for auction,and while theoretically anyone can propose an exploration programme for the block, anyone who has had to deal with Petronas knows that "anyone" means a party favoured by the UMNO/BN government.

 

These are shallow water blocks and given that the market for oil services is still somewhat depressed it would be well within the means of the Johor Government to explore and possibly exploit the area on its own.There is no need for Chinese investment, at least at the early exploration stage.

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