The development will frustrate China’sattempts to secure ownership of the lucrative zone within its nine dash line, the proportion of the sea bed that Beijing has allocated for itself. In October Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte invited Moscow-based energy company Rosneft to conduct oil and gas exploration in waters the Philippines claims in the South China Sea. The offer was reciprocated by the Russian ambassador to the Philippines, Igor Khovaev, who invited Philippine companies to also “explore oil and gas in Russia together with Russian companies”.