China puts blocks up for bid

The Chinese government on Monday announced that it would be auctioning some 30 hydrocarbons blocks in the the Xinjiang region covering around 30,000 square kilometres.

The assets have been earmarked to for private investors to boost outside participation in the sector. These efforts will ultimately serve to raise Chinas overall production, which has been in decline. Previously the sole domain of Chinese energy giants: CNPC, CNOOC and Sinopec Group, the blocks, located both onshore and offshore, have already been relinquished by China’s NOCs.

The move, the second-such auctioning off, is part of a wider merger and divestiture effort being undertaken at the macro-level to end the NOC monopoly in exploration and production.

In mid-2015, a tender for five blocks was issued by the Ministry of Land and Resources. Four of the five assets were purchased by Beijing Energy Investment Holdings and a Shandong-headquartered company. All told, the entities have committed around USD 1.24 billion to the development of the plays over three years.

A date for the auction has yet to be set.