Philippines receives only six bids for Spratly oilfield

Chinese fishing boats around a reef in the Spratly islands. (File photo/Xinhua)

Only six companies bid for the right to develop three oilfield blocks offered on Tuesday by the Philippines in the South China Sea on Tuesday as the blocks overlap with areas claimed by China. Most international petroleum companies reportedly stayed out of the bid to avoid potentially costly retaliation from Beijing.
Five of the six bidders were from the Philippines itself and the only foreign company was Pitkin Petroleum, a British oil and gas company who bid for the contract with a Philippine partner. Pitkin CEO Art Morado said he felt that China's reaction would be stronger if the oilfield were further away from the Philippines, according to the Chinese-language Beijing News.


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