China inks oil contract with Equatorial Guinea
(AFP/Xinhua)
Updated: 2006-02-19 09:32

A subsidiary of leading Chinese oil and gas producer China National Offshore Oil Company Ltd. (CNOOC) has signed a production-sharing contract for an offshore block in Equatorial Guinea.

China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) executive director Yang Hua. A subsidiary of CNOOC has signed a production-sharing contract for an offshore block in Equatorial Guinea. [AFP]

The five-year contract was signed on Friday by Equatorial Guinea's mines ministry, national oil firm GEPetrol and CNOOC Africa Ltd., Xinhua news agency said Saturday, citing CNOOC sources.

It covers a block of about 2,287 square kilometres (915 square miles) off the south coast of Equatorial Guinea with the waters ranging from 30 to 1,500 metres (99 to 4,950 feet) in depth.

The agreement follows a strategic partnership between the two countries announced by President Teodoro Obiang Nguema during a visit to Beijing in October.

Equatorial Guinea is the third biggest producer of crude oil in sub-Sahara Africa. US companies have hitherto developed its oil resources.

CNOOC vice president Zhu Mingcai cited the deal as another sign of progress in the energy firm's expansion of overseas operations, Xinhua said.

China, the world's second biggest oil consumer, is scouring the globe for more oil to fuel its unprecedented economic boom.

In January CNOOC announced it had agreed to buy a 45 percent stake in an oil block off the coast of Nigeria for almost 2.3 billion dollars.