Chinese Petroleum Corp (
CPC and China National Offshore Oil Corp (CNOOC,
The agreement paves the way for both state firms to jointly develop the Chaoshan block in the open seas about 140km from the southern port city Kaohsiung.
"As far as I know it's the first large-scale cooperation between two state-owned enterprises across the strait," said CNOOC President Wei Liucheng (
The agreement was the second major commercial deal involving state-controlled companies. China Eastern Airlines signed a pact last year to sell a 25 percent stake in its cargo unit to Taiwan's China Airlines Co (
CNOOC, parent of listed CNOOC Ltd, has received Beijing's approval for the project, which calls for the establishment of a 50-50 joint venture.
Chinese Petroleum and CNOOC had conducted a geophysical survey of the 15,400km2 block in 1996 and found the area likely to have oil and gas. Whether the block contains any natural gas or oil requires actual exploration.
"The signing of the oil deal means our cooperation on oil exploration has moved from joint study to joint investment. In the next stage, we will move from joint investment to joint development," Chinese Petroleum Chairman Regis Chen (
The Mainland Affairs Council had dragged its feet on approving the deal but gave the green light last month.
Chinese Petroleum was reluctant to play up the signing ceremony, apparently worried that cooperation in the strategic energy sector would send the wrong signals to Taiwanese businessmen pressing the government to further ease curbs on mainland-bound investments.
"The two sides had hoped for a breakthrough on the economic fronts, but issues such as ideology, titles, and `one China' always stood in the way," said Chen Ming-chang (
"Speaking purely from the business point of view made things a lot easier," Chen said, adding that economic integration would improve the political climate.
Chinese Petroleum and CNOOC officials avoided politics at the signing ceremony, stressing the deal was "equal and mutually beneficial."
"A deal of such significance can't go ahead unless authorities on the two sides agree," CNOOC's Wei said.
"We share the same culture, the same language and the same work habits. I think the cooperation will be pleasant and smooth."
Fence-mending talks between Taipei and Beijing have deadlocked since July 1999, when then president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) redefined bilateral relations as "special state to state" in an attempt to break Taiwan out of diplomatic isolation.
Mounting pressure from Tai-wan's private sector forced the government to ease last month a ban on microchip makers building plants in China. But tough conditions were attached.
Chinese Petroleum has been aggressively exploring investment opportunities to cope with rising competition since 2000, when the government allowed a private company to enter the country's oil market, ending the oil giant's decades-old monopoly.
It faced a further threat to its dominance in the local market after the government lifted curbs on oil product imports this year.
Chinese Petroleum has also been in talks with China National Petroleum Corp to refine crude for China's biggest oil-and-gas producer as part of efforts to use idle capacity due to a supply glut at home. Officials declined to comment on the talks.
AIR SUPPORT: The Ministry of National Defense thanked the US for the delivery, adding that it was an indicator of the White House’s commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) and Representative to the US Alexander Yui on Friday attended a delivery ceremony for the first of Taiwan’s long-awaited 66 F-16C/D Block 70 jets at a Lockheed Martin Corp factory in Greenville, South Carolina. “We are so proud to be the global home of the F-16 and to support Taiwan’s air defense capabilities,” US Representative William Timmons wrote on X, alongside a photograph of Taiwanese and US officials at the event. The F-16C/D Block 70 jets Taiwan ordered have the same capabilities as aircraft that had been upgraded to F-16Vs. The batch of Lockheed Martin
GRIDLOCK: The National Fire Agency’s Special Search and Rescue team is on standby to travel to the countries to help out with the rescue effort A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand yesterday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Footage shared on social media from Myanmar’s second-largest city showed widespread destruction, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed. The magnitude 7.7 earthquake, with an epicenter near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong magnitude 6.4 aftershock. The extent of death, injury and destruction — especially in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times —
Taiwan was ranked the fourth-safest country in the world with a score of 82.9, trailing only Andorra, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar in Numbeo’s Safety Index by Country report. Taiwan’s score improved by 0.1 points compared with last year’s mid-year report, which had Taiwan fourth with a score of 82.8. However, both scores were lower than in last year’s first review, when Taiwan scored 83.3, and are a long way from when Taiwan was named the second-safest country in the world in 2021, scoring 84.8. Taiwan ranked higher than Singapore in ninth with a score of 77.4 and Japan in 10th with
SECURITY RISK: If there is a conflict between China and Taiwan, ‘there would likely be significant consequences to global economic and security interests,’ it said China remains the top military and cyber threat to the US and continues to make progress on capabilities to seize Taiwan, a report by US intelligence agencies said on Tuesday. The report provides an overview of the “collective insights” of top US intelligence agencies about the security threats to the US posed by foreign nations and criminal organizations. In its Annual Threat Assessment, the agencies divided threats facing the US into two broad categories, “nonstate transnational criminals and terrorists” and “major state actors,” with China, Russia, Iran and North Korea named. Of those countries, “China presents the most comprehensive and robust military threat
RSS