China, North Korea Will Jointly Explore For Oil

China and North Korea have agreed to jointly explore for oil in the Yellow Sea that borders both countries, the Chinese foreign ministry said June 6. It was not immediately clear how much of that oil is in North Korean territory or in the two nations' overlapping exclusive economic zones.

According to a report issued in December last year by the Washington-based Center for International Policy, North Korea has already laid claim to three northernmost Yellow Sea basins thought to hold oil. The North Koreans had discovered up to three billion tons of recoverable oil and gas reserves in the Yellow Sea off its coast, the center said.

China has said the Yellow Sea could hold important oil and gas reserves, however no major discoveries have been reported.

Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2006