CNODC Acquires Offshore Block

China National Oil and Gas Exploration and Development Corp (CNODC), a unit of China’s CNPC, has acquired the exploration rights to an oil and gas block from Indonesia's PT Waropen Perkasa, one of 10 onshore and offshore oil projects originally tendered by the Indonesian government in June 2004. China's major oil firms -- Sinopec, CNOOC and China National Petroleum Corp, the parent of Hong Kong-listed PetroChina Co Ltd. -- are all scouring the globe for oil resources to feed China's soaring demand. China imported 130 million tons of crude oil in 2005, up 3.3 percent year-on-year. (Source: Forbes)