Chevron Won CNPC Bid

Oil giant Chevron has won a bid last weekend to jointly develop natural gas in southwest China's Sichuan Province with the natiobal giant CNPC.

The cooperation would cover the Luojiazhai gas field that has a high sulfur content, ranging from 7.13 percent to 10.49 percent.

China National Petroleum Corporation, the operator of the field, was said to have begun last year to seek foreign partners in developing the field, which boasts a gas reserve of 58.11 billion cubic meters.

CNPC, also the parent company of the New York- and Hong Kong-listed PetroChina, expanded the area covered by the cooperation to four blocks in total this year, and the move would make it more attractive to foreign partners as some insiders said.

The US company has won the bid over rivals such as France's Total SA, the Royal Dutch Shell and the Statoil ASA of Norway, insiders said.

The two companies would have to sign a contract to fix how to split the total output from gas fields under their cooperation, they said.