Current Chinese law states “CNOOC as the sole company to partner with foreign companies to conduct exploration and development in Chinese waters” and, up to now, offshore E&P has been the domain of CNOOC together with its foreign PSC partners.

However, according to a anonymous “senior engineer” with the Exploration and Development Research Institute of China National Petroleum Corp, “The government is encouraging domestic oil companies to step up efforts in offshore exploration. The offshore area is too large for CNOOC to work alone [and] the government is co-ordinating the relationship among Chinese oil companies to allow more players in the area.”

“PetroChina had applied for exploration licenses in the East China Sea and Bohai Bay years earlier but I am unsure whether the licence has been approved,” added the insider.

PetroChina has traditionally conducted E&P onshore or in shallow waters.