Friday, February 18, 2022

South China Sea | Yinggehai Basin

 Date published on April 11, 2019

​Vietnam verifying location of Chinese oil rig in Gulf of Tonkin

Vietnam is trying to determine if a Chinese oil rig is located in its territorial waters.
Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Le Thi Thu Hang said Thursday that authorities were trying to confirm whether China’s Dongfang 13-2 CEPB oil rig is functioning within Vietnamese waters in the Gulf of Tonkin in the East Sea, known internationally as the South China Sea.

On Sunday, the Xinhua news agency reported that "Dongfang 13-2 CEPB," the second largest offshore oil production and processing platform in China, was completed for shipment and would be shipped to the Yinggehai Basin on Wednesday.
Yinggehai Basin lies at the southern end of the Red River fault zone, between the Vietnamese coast and China's Hainan Island.

Hang said the Sino-Vietnamese Agreement on Maritime Boundary Delimitation in the Gulf of Tonkin (2004), which clearly defines the areas and legality of China and Vietnam’s territorial waters, exclusive economic zones and continental shelves, is in accordance with international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

"The two countries have the responsibility to seriously follow the agreement in terms of managing, utilizing and protecting resources within each country’s exclusive economic zones and continental shelves, for the benefit of each country and for peace and stability within the South China Sea," she said.

Dongfang 13-2 CEPB oil rig was built by China's Offshore Oil Engineering Co., Ltd. with a floating weight of more than 17,000 tons and covers an area of a football field, according to Xinhua. It is expected to go functional in June.


Related Info.
​Learn about some key points on the Gulf of Tonkin incident leading to the U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War, 1964

TRANSCRIPT

The Gulf of Tonkin incident was a naval event off the coast of Vietnam that ultimately gave President Lyndon B. Johnson the power to greatly escalate the U.S. military’s direct involvement in Vietnam in 1964. Encyclopaedia Britannica presents some key points on the Gulf of Tonkin Incident.


​Vietnam was divided into two halves, north and south. U.S. naval vessels were sent to the Gulf of Tonkin in support of South Vietnam to observe and intercept communications from communist North Vietnam. In late July 1964, South Vietnamese commandos attacked North Vietnamese military installations on the islands of Hon Me and Hon Ngu in the Gulf of Tonkin.



The destroyer USS Maddox saw North Vietnamese torpedo boats sent out in pursuit of the South Vietnamese vessels, and it retreated, but it returned to the area on August 1. The following day, the Maddox was approached by three North Vietnamese torpedo boats. The Maddox fired warning shots, but the torpedo boats continued to follow and proceeded to open fire.


The Americans believed that North Vietnam had targeted the Maddox unprovoked, so the destroyer USS Turner Joy was sent in as reinforcement. Unbeknownst to those aboard the Maddox, the North Vietnamese believed that the Maddox had been involved in the South Vietnamese attacks on Hon Me and Hon Ngu.


The U.S. military intercepted communications on August 4 that led them to believe North Vietnam was planning to attack the Maddox and Turner Joy. That night, with a storm raging, both ships reported that they were being approached by unidentified vessels and requested air support. The plane piloted by James Stockdale came to assist the destroyers but saw no torpedo boats.


After the event, Captain John Herrick of the Maddox sent a message: “Review of action makes many reported contacts and torpedoes fired appear doubtful. Freak weather effects on radar and overeager sonarmen may have accounted for many reports. …Suggest complete evaluation before any further action taken.” Despite the uncertainty, President Johnson informed the United States Congress that the two naval destroyers had been attacked by the North Vietnamese.



This prompted Congress to pass the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, which gave the president the right to take all necessary measures to repel any armed attack against the United States. This resolution and the Gulf of Tonkin incident resulted in the U.S. getting directly involved in Vietnam. The resolution was later repealed, as many members of Congress believed that it gave the president a blanket power to wage war.

South China Sea Oil Fields

The Yinggehai-Song Hong Basin is located on the northwest of the South China Sea, between Hainan island and the coast of northern Vietnam.[1][2] It is a large extensional pull-part basin in extensional continental marginal setting, developed along the Red River fault zone,[1] which located at the suture of the Indochina Plate and Yangtze Plate (South China Plate).


Date published on April 19, 2019

Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Le Thi Thu Hang said Thursday that authorities were trying to confirm whether China’s Dongfang 13-2 CEPB oil rig is functioning within Vietnamese waters in the Gulf of Tonkin in the East Sea, known internationally as the South China Sea. On Sunday, the Xinhua news agency reported that "Dongfang 13-2 CEPB," the second largest offshore oil production and processing platform in China, was completed for shipment and would be shipped to the Yinggehai Basin on Wednesday. Yinggehai Basin lies at the southern end of the Red River fault zone, between the Vietnamese coast and China's Hainan Island. Hang said the Sino-Vietnamese Agreement on Maritime Boundary Delimitation in the Gulf of Tonkin (2004), which clearly defines the areas and legality of China and Vietnam’s territorial waters, exclusive economic zones and continental shelves, is in accordance with international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. "The two countries have the responsibility to seriously follow the agreement in terms of managing, utilizing and protecting resources within each country’s exclusive economic zones and continental shelves, for the benefit of each country and for peace and stability within the South China Sea," she said. Dongfang 13-2 CEPB oil rig was built by China's Offshore Oil Engineering Co., Ltd. with a floating weight of more than 17,000 tons and covers an area of a football field, according to Xinhua. It is expected to go functional in June.

Date published on Feb. 2017
​Seepage system of oil-gas and its exploration in Yinggehai Basin located at northwest of South China Sea

Abstract


Seepage systems of oil-gas in Yinggehai Basin are divided into two types, namely: “micro-seepage”, which is presented by gas chimneys and pockmarks; and “macro-seepage”, which is also called oil-gas outflow; and, in addition, the combination of the two basic types. Among the oil seepage systems, the combined seepage system at Yingdong Slope of Yinggehai Basin is the most eye-catching, and gas chimneys and pockmarks micro-leakage systems in mud diapir zones in the central part of the basin are very common. Both the indications of large-scale oil-gas outflow at Yingdong Slope, which have been booming for a hundred years; and the occurrence of pockmarks at the central mud diapir belt, along with the chaotic seismic reflection of widely-distributed shallow gas chimneys—have shown that hydrocarbon in this area is sufficient and oil-gas is now in dynamic equilibrium of the processes of accumulation, migration, gathering and dispersing. It builds up good conditions for the accumulation, migration, gathering and reserving of oil and gas. However, it must be noted that the results of oil-gas exploration at Yingdong Slope didn't turn out to be satisfactory, despite the presence of oil-gas outflow and gas chimney combined seepage systems. So, strengthen synthesized analysis and study on oil-gas seepage systems and on the conditions for accumulation, migration, gathering and dispersing; the forecasting and evaluation to the advantageous conditions for enriched oil and gas zones; and trap preservation in accordance with the dynamic balance theories; are of significant importance for purposes of exploration.

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