By an OGJ Online Correspondent
BEIJING, Oct. 11 -- China amended its oil and gas legislation Oct. 7 to allow China Petroleum & Chemical Corp. (Sinopec) to invite foreign exploration and production companies to bid for onshore oil and gas blocks, officials said Thursday.
Under the previous law, only China National Petroleum Corp. had that right.
The new regulation allows only CNPC and Sinopec to buy equity oil from foreign companies operating under production-sharing contracts in China.
In another new regulation issued on the same date, the government confirmed China National Offshore Oil Corp.'s exclusive responsibility for exploring offshore petroleum resources in China in cooperation with foreign enterprises.
The government also named China United Coal-Bed Methane Co. Ltd. as the exclusive entity to engage with foreign companies in cooperative exploration and production of coalbed methane.
