CNOOC takes 45% stake in Nigerian oil (AFP) Updated: 2006-01-09 22:01
China's largest gas and oil producer CNOOC said it had agreed to buy a 45
percent stake in an oil block off the coast of Nigeria for almost 2.3 billion
dollars.
A woman walks past the headquarters of the
state-run energy firm China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) in
Beijing, in June 2005. China's largest gas and oil producer CNOOC said it
had agreed to buy a 45 percent stake in an oil block off the coast of
Nigeria for almost 2.3 billion dollars. [AFP] |
The Hong Kong-listed unit of the China National Overseas Oil Corporation said
it had signed a firm agreement with Nigeria's South Atlantic Petroleum to
acquire the stake in the OML 130 block in the Niger Delta.
The purchase would be funded from internal resources, a CNOOC statement said.
"The purchase of this interest in OML 130 helps CNOOC gain access to an oil
and gas field of huge interest and upside potential, located in one of the
world's largest oil and gas basins," CNOOC chairman Fu Chengyu said Monday.
"With one of the leading deep water experts as the operator of the field, we
have every confidence for the fast and efficient production of oil."
The block covers about 500 square miles (1,300 sq km) and water depths range
from about 1,100 to 1,800 meters (3,630-5,940 feet). It is being operated by
French oil giant Total.
Total estimates the block could contain some 600 million barrels of
recoverable oil with a potential for some 500 million more barrels, the
statement said.
The field is due to come into production in 2008. The transaction is expected
to be finalised in the first half of this year and is conditional on approval
from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation and the Chinese government.
The deal is China's latest attempt to acquire foreign oil to fuel its booming
economy.
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