Cabinet has given the green light for two offshore exploration blocks to be awarded to China’s energy giant CNOOC.
Energy Minister Dr. Roodal Moonilal made the announcement at the post-Cabinet media briefing on Thursday.
“Let me indicate that CNOOC is the third largest national oil company of China and the largest producer offshore of oil and gas in China,” he said.
“They expressed an interest in participating, and we are happy to announce that today, Cabinet considered and agreed to the award of Production Sharing Contracts for Blocks 24 and 25, and that was in response to our bid round.”
Dr Moonilal said another round of negotiations is set to commence before contracts are finalized with CNOOC, which he described as a major player in the global energy industry.
“CNOOC has also been involved with ExxonMobil and Hess, I believe, in Guyana in that massive oil find and production initiative in Guyana. We are very happy that ExxonMobil has already entered our energy industry, and now CNOOC is on the verge of entering as well,” Dr Moonilal said.
