Rival parties clashed on Friday over the Blue Whale drilling project, after an economic feasibility study yielded disappointing results for one of the sites in the East Sea that was thought to contain significant oil and gas reserves.

The main opposition Democratic Party strongly criticized the results of the first drilling, calling it a “nationwide scam.”

The DP demanded an apology from the ruling People Power Party(PPP), which had fought to restore the budget for the drilling project.

Meanwhile, the PPP said there was no need to be disappointed with the initial results and stressed the need for follow-up drilling work.

The ruling party also called for restraint regarding what it called premature political attacks based on the results of the first drilling.