Oil Giants of Mainland & Island Province Plan Joint Oil and Gas ProjectChina National Offshore Oil Co. (CNOOC) Ltd, the leading oil producer of the Chinese mainland, is finalising plans with Taiwan's 'China Petroleum Corp' to jointly prospect for oil and gas in the Taiwan Straits and the two sides have a tentative schedule to ink an agreement this November.Media has reported that 'China Petroleum' spokesman had confirmed the planned joint exploration in the coming five years in sea waters off Tainan, but said it was still pending for approval from the Taiwan authorities. "The timetable isn't a thing that our company can decide on our own," he said. CNOOC also confirmed the reports Wednesday and said that the cooperation in petroleum industry between the two sides across the Straits has been undergoing for sometime now and needs to enter into substantial phase. According to a report by China News Service, CNOOC has sent its ships several times to sea waters off Tainan for sample collection and then turned it to China Petroleum for analysis. CNOOC chairman and chief executive officer Wei Liucheng said the cooperative plan would incur more commercial profits rather than those of politics. "We're much stronger in terms of exploration and development capability, and they're much better at refinery. It's an excellent union," Wei said. By PD Online staff member Li Heng |
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