Taiwan’s state-run Chinese Petroleum Corp (CPC) and its mainland counterpart, China National Offshore Oil Corp, have signed an agreement to jointly explore for oil in an area of the Taiwan Straits, Reuters reported. They have agreed to invest a total of US$25m in a joint venture to look for oil in the Chaoshan block about 250km west of Taiwan’s southern port of Kaohsiung.
The two companies conducted a geophysical survey of the block in 1996, but Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council did not give its approval to the joint venture until April this year. CPC has also been in talks with China National Petroleum Corp to refine crude for the mainland’s oil producer.