Nido has held SC 58 and SC68 for around decade, however parts are in areas claimed by China, and in recent years activities have had to be put on hold while China has ramped up its aggressive posturing in the South China Sea by claiming most of the region and its fishing and oil and gas rights across areas that would otherwise fall into the exclusive economic zones of countries such as Malaysia, Brunei, the Philippines and Vietnam.
China has even gone as far as building artificial islands to make its case, and there have been sporadic outbursts and confrontations with other nations.
Vietnam and the Philippines have historically administered most of the rocks and reefs in the South China Sea, but in recent years China has pursued territorial claims in the area, so the Philippines moved under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea to have a ruling issued in 2013.
The move to the courts saw Nido walk back on its exploration commitments.
SC 63, Nido's largest permit remains suspended, while and Nido says it is monitoring SC 58, which sits in the West Philippines Sea, and Nido says that the July 12 ruling from the Hague that China's "nine-dash line" territorial claims, drawn up in 1947, which cover most of the South China Sea, will not be recognised under international law will offer no immediate clarity.
There is no enforcement provision in the Law of the Sea to stop China from continuing to expand its presence in the South China Sea, despite the fact the Chinese government had previously agreed to be bound by the court's decision.
The vaguely defined nine-dash line encompasses around 90% of the South China Sea, extending more than one thousand kilometres from China, and in some cases reach well within the 200-nautical-mile limit of several other nations' EEZ.
The South China Sea is thought to harbour large reserves of oil and gas.
China's claims in the area date back to the 1300s, however the western powers began carving up Asia in the 1500s and China did little to defend its claims then.
Vietnam's maritime claims in the South China Sea are based on old French colonial claims, and the Philippines traces its claims back to the Spanish colonial period.
China claims these borders were drawn up without its consent, and it has refused to acknowledge the UN ruling.
In the case of Malaysia and Brunei, the nine-dash line even reaches operating oil and gas fields and several inhabited islands, suggesting that China might one day think about seizing them for its own use.
The US Energy Information Agency estimates the South China Sea holds eleven billion barrels of oil and 190 trillion cubic feet of natural gas in the deepwater areas, while China National Offshore Oil Corporation has invested some $20 billion in attempting to prove its more optimistic estimate of 125 billion barrels of oil and five hundred trillion cubic feet of natural gas.
The USGS suggests that within the nine-dash line there could be around 3Bbbl and 70Tcf, largely in the Sunda Shelf and around the contested Spratly Islands.
The sea is also a vital trade link for the world.
An estimated $5 trillion worth of goods are transported through South China Sea shipping lanes each year, including more than half the world's annual merchant fleet tonnage and a third of all maritime traffic worldwide.
The amount of oil transported through the Malacca Strait from the Indian Ocean is triple the amount that passes through the Suez Canal and fifteen times the volume that transits the Panama Canal.
Around 60% of Japan's and Taiwan's LNG, and 80% of China's crude oil imports flow through the South China Sea.
While it remains cautious about spending too much cash in the South China Sea, Nido continues to focus closer to shore, where it operates the Galoc field in uncontested waters.
Galoc produced an average of 2861bopd (net) or 260,000bbl for the last quarter, with the Nido and Matlinoc fields producing a further 8502bbl on a cyclical basis.
While the Galoc partners continue to consider an appraisal well in the mid-Galoc Area to extend the field life, Nido's cash reserves are getting dangerously thin.
It had around $2.95 million at the end of the last quarter because its income was $US9.4 million but it spent $US9.8 million operating its oil fields, assessing Galoc and looking at new assets, leading to yet another loss-making quarter.
It also paid $1.6 million in administration and tax payments, and it has a big debt repayment due to major shareholder Bangchak Petroleum Public Company in March 2018.
