China's third-largest oil and gas company to jointly operate nine offshore blocks with foreign partners.
China National Offshore Oil Corp has announced its decision to make nine offshore blocks in the South China Sea available for cooperative development with foreign companies. The nine blocks cover an area of 160,124 square kilometres in the Zhongjianan, Wan'an and Nanwexi basins, at depths ranging from 300 to 4,000 metres deep.
Despite aims to reduce reliance on foreign technology and funding, CNOOC hopes the new projects will allow Chinese and foreign firms to share expertise in opening up some of its more challenging offshore locations. CNOOC has been developing its offshore fields for over 30 years, although it has faced numerous technical and economic risks in doing so.
Since 2010, the company has offered a total of 32 offshore blocks for foreign cooperation, although last year only Italian major Eni SpA made a successful bid. While some international companies, such as Canada's Husky Energy Inc, have profited from the developments, the lack of seismic data, high cost of drilling exploratory wells and unfavourable contract terms have discouraged foreign companies from collaborating in the South China Seas.