Weak oil prices during the pandemic serve as a disincentive to joint exploration with China in the West Philippine Sea, a maritime law expert from the University of the Philippines said. Jay L. Batongbacal, head of the University of the Philippines Institute for Maritime Affairs and Law of the Sea, said in a virtual forum Monday that although global oil demand is starting to pick up, prices remain low, undercutting the case for exploration. “With lower oil prices, (the) incentive to explore is not as high or not as urgent at this point,” he said.

Ang, A. J. (2020, August 18). No urgency to explore in West PHL Sea while pandemic depresses prices — academic. BusinessWorld, p. S1/3.