The Philippines received bids from local companies to explore offshore areas claimed by China in a tender that the world’s biggest oil and gas firms avoided as the nations feud over territory.
Makati City-based Helios Petroleum and Gas Corp. submitted offers for two of the blocks, while a group including Philex Petroleum Corp. bid on one, according to Energy Undersecretary Jose Layug. Two of the three areas fall within China’s so-called nine-dash map of the South China Sea.
