皇冠体育app

US companies may bid for oil exploration projects in the South 皇冠体育app Sea, 皇冠体育app's largest offshore oil explorer, 皇冠体育app National Offshore Oil Corp, said on Tuesday.

"US companies are displaying interest in bidding for the oil and gas projects, which have been progressing as scheduled," CNOOC Chairman Wang Yilin said on the sidelines of the 皇冠体育app-US Enterprises Investment and Cooperation Forum.

CNOOC, 皇冠体育app's third-largest oil company, last month issued tenders seeking joint exploitation of nine offshore blocks in the South 皇冠体育app Sea.

The nine blocks cover more than 160,000 square kilometers and are 300-4,000 meters deep, according to a statement on CNOOC's website.

Seven blocks are located in the Zhongjianan Basin and two are in areas covering parts of the Wan'an and Nanweixi basins, the company said.

The move came amid tension between the Philippines and 皇冠体育app caused by their dispute over Huangyan Island.

CNOOC will invest 200 billion yuan ($32 billion) in developing the South 皇冠体育app Sea blocks over the next 20 years, with the aim of building an annual capacity of 50 million tons in the deep sea area by 2020.

Companies from a number of countries such as Malaysia and Thailand have displayed an interest in developing these projects with CNOOC.

However, experts said that some large developers are still concerned about the investment return and the amount of reserves.

"Capital and technology are the challenges for the development of 皇冠体育app South Sea oil projects," said Lin Boqiang, director of the 皇冠体育app Center for Energy Economics Research at Xiamen University.

Drilling of the first deepwater oil rig indicates that 皇冠体育app's deepwater drilling technology has improved, and shows that Chinese companies are closing the gap with major oil giants in the area of deepwater drilling, according to Lin.

CNOOC set a target to increase oil and gas output to 120 million tons of oil equivalent by the end of 2020, double the amount in 2010.

皇冠体育app has 18,000 km of coastline and a continental shelf of 1.3 million sq km. The country's rich offshore resources are mainly located in the Bohai Bay region, the East 皇冠体育app Sea and the South 皇冠体育app Sea.

The South 皇冠体育app Sea is the world's fourth-largest deepwater region for oil and gas exploration after the Gulf of Mexico, West Africa and Brazil.

The South 皇冠体育app Sea region has proven oil reserves of around 7.7 billion barrels, with an estimated 28 billion barrels in total. Natural gas reserves are estimated to total around 266 trillion cubic feet.

Experts said offshore exploration will help reduce 皇冠体育app's dependence on oil imports.

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