The head of Taiwan's state-run Chinese Petroleum Corp (CPC,
"Chinese Petroleum president Pan Wen-yen (
"CPC and CNOOC have finished seismic testing in the Taiwan Strait, our first-phase cooperation. Now we will start second-phase cooperation," he said.
A CPC spokesman stopped short of confirming the deal but said: "Both sides feel the need for exploration."
Both the CPC and the CNOOC began negotiating in 1994 on the drilling agreement in an area covering 15,400km2 in the Tainan Basin between south Taiwan and China's Guangdong Province.
CPC and CNOOC will share the cost of drilling and the reserves discovered in the oil and gas fields.
CPC and CNOOC conducted initial geophysical studies under a two-year contract signed in July 1996 and the study showed possible rich oil and natural gas reserves, the CPC official said.
But the cooperation was halted in late 1996 after the Taipei government introduced new controls on investment and trade links with China as tensions rose between the two rivals.
CPC had to hold talks with CNOOC in foreign countries like Singapore, and sign agreements with CPC in the name of its overseas-based affiliated company -- Overseas Petroleum Investment Corp.
According to a Chinese language newspaper, Pan will visit China Oct. 8 to Oct. 14 to sign the memorandum for the exploration.
In August, CNOOC chairman Wei Liucheng (
"We are much stronger in terms of exploration and development capability and they are much better at refining. It's an excellent union," Wei said.
But he declined to disclose financial terms of the deal.
Back in late August, the CPC formalized plans to make inroads into China by relocating part of its distribution and sales operations across the Taiwan Strait.
CPC management is now working first to open gas stations and oil storage tanks in port cities along the Yangtze River, the longest river in the China, according to CPC officials.
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