China's territorial disputes with its maritime neighbors over the South China Sea is not at all just about regional supremacy, but about oil and natural gas reserves as well, claims a story published by The New York Times Tuesday.

For many years now, China has been embroiled in bitter territorial disputes with countries that form South China Sea's perimeters, including Philippines, Japan, Vietnam, Brunei and Malaysia.

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What appears to be China's attempt at flexing its muscles in the region-and perhaps an open challenge to the United States' influence in the Asia Pacific-is actually a manifestation of its growing interest in the oil and gas pockets hidden beneath the waters' seabed.

This was never more apparent than when Beijing sent an oil drilling rig in the waters claimed by Vietnam earlier this year.

The operator of the rig is no less than China's biggest offshore oil producer, the China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC).

The move provoked a tensed standoff between Asia's economic giant and Vietnam, and had earned the ire of the rest of the world.

But China came away the winner when it announced in September that CNOOC discovered a substantial gas field off the waters of Hainan-an indication of the country's expanding proficiency in offshore oil drilling.

According to estimates released by the United States Energy Information Administration, South China Sea boasts at least 11 billion barrels of oil and some 190 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.

The New York Times speculates that if these estimates were correct-these include proven and probable cache of oil and natural gas-the South China Sea may rival the oil reserves of Mexico and thus place it among the world's top 10 gas producers.

The energy administration further estimates that the countries straddling the South China Sea were able to produce as much as 1.2 million barrels of oil daily and 3,200 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day in 2011 alone.

These figures nearly equal the total gas produced by Saudi Arabia at the close of 2012 and North Dakota's present oil production.

China, which ranks 1^st as the world's largest carbon emitter and whose economy is fueled by industries relying on coal fuels, is pressed by the international community to lessen its production of air pollutants. The New York Times argues that if it could get its hands on the oil and gas reserves of the South China Sea, it could do just that.  

TagsEnvironment, Business Finance, Petroleum, Energy, Asia, Territorial disputes in the South China Sea