Mauritania Willing to Offer China 4 - 5 Oil Blocks

Mauritania, a minor exporter of crude oil to China, is willing to offer four-to-five new oil blocks to Chinese explorers in the coming years, its Minister for Economic Affairs and Development said. The blocks will likely account for nearly half of all the new oil blocks that the West African nation plans to open up to foreign companies for exploration.

"We plan to open over 10 blocks to foreign companies, both onshore and offshore. Chinese companies are mostly interested in onshore, while the French and U.S. companies always focus on offshore," said Mohamed Ould El Abed, the country's Minister for Economic Affairs and Development.

The Mauritanian government last week reached a preliminary agreement with China National Petroleum Corp. (CNPC.YY), or CNPC, under which China's largest oil producer by output is granted the right to explore for petroleum in an onshore block, he told DJN.

The minister said the blocks will be offered to foreigners on the basis of bilateral agreements between governments, and not through a bidding process.

Last year, CNPC bought for $8.6 million a 65% stake in Block 20 in Mauritania, an onshore oil and gas exploration block. CNPC started drilling in mid-October

So far, Mauritania has been a minor exporter of crude oil to China. Exports reached 543,688 metric tons in the first nine months of this year, or 14,598 barrels a day. That accounted for only 0.5% of China's total crude imports.