Not only and energy corridor, but the disputed areas of the South China sea contain oil/gas sources as well.
Contested areas of South China Sea likely have few conventional oil and gas resources
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3003648/posts
04/03/2013
The United States Heads to the South China Sea
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2991080/posts
February 21, 2013
Regional tensions dominate as Australian PM heads to China
http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/international/radio/program/connect-asia/regional-tensions-dominate-as-australian-pm-heads-to-china/1111470
4 April 2013
A business summit that the Prime Minister will attend in China on Friday is being overshadowed by regional tensions not only on the Korean Peninsula but in the South China Sea.
This is the reason we fought in Vietnam. Strategic lines of transportation were being crowded by the communists and the west wanted to protect these sea lanes. Very few folks really get that, then or now.