CNOOC wins bid to explore for oil in Australia

The Ministry of Commerce has announced China National Offshore Oil Corp (CNOOC) has won a bid to commence oil exploration in Australia.

Initially, CNOOC will invest Aus$81.3 million to carry out 3-D seismic survey and drill 5 wells on an oil field in the Bonaparte Basin, in coastal waters off the north coast of Australia.

CNOOC is China’s largest offshore oil and gas producer and the corporation has also bid for Phase II exploration on the oil field, with a proposed investment of Aus$80.8 million.

The Ministry of Commerce concluded that it is the first license that CNOOC has obtained to launch offshore oil exploration in Australia.