China Sinopec signs oil exploration pact with Liberia
2 November 2006Reuters News
BEIJING, Nov 3 (Reuters) - China and Liberia have signed a preliminary deal to allow China's second-largest state oil and gas firm, Sinopec Group, to explore for oil and gas in the western African state, officials said on Friday.
It is the first oil exploration deal a Chinese firm has pinned down in Liberia as the world's second-largest oil consumer extends its reach beyond major African oil producers like Nigeria, Angola and Sudan to boost its overseas reserves.
"We reached an agreement on oil exploration with Sinopec," Henry Boima Fahnbulleh, Liberian Assistant Minister for African-Asian Affairs, told Reuters on the sidelines of a ministerial summit at the start of a two-day China-Africa forum.
A Sinopec executive confirmed that a memorandum of understanding was signed between Sinopec Group and Liberia's state oil company.
"We did some research on Liberia's oil and gas potentials, which we believe would mostly be offshore," the official told Reuters.
Sinopec Group is the parent of Sinopec Corp , Asia's top refiner.