PetroChina Offers Oil, Gas Blocks to Foreign Firms

PetroChina. has offered oil-and-gas blocks in northwestern Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region to foreign companies for joint development, sources familiar with the matter told Dow Jones Newswire.

The oil and gas resources in this remote region is controlled by state energy firms PetroChina and Sinopec and no forign firm has been allowed in since 2006, the newswire report said.

One of the people said PetroChina had offered 10 blocks to potential partners on an invitation-only basis. The blocks are located in remote areas and range from 6,000 to 15,000 square kilometers in size, the person told Dow Jones. They are expected to contain conventional oil and gas, but seismic data on them is limited, the person said.

PetroChina spokesman Mao Zefeng said he had no knowledge of PetroChina offering blocks in Xinjiang to potential foreign partners, but said it was common for the company to cooperate with foreign companies.