China depends on foreign expertise for deep water drilling: China Daily

China Daily reports:
Deepwater drilling to be conducted with help from overseas companies
Cooperating with overseas companies on domestic offshore blocks comes naturally to China National Offshore Oil Corp, the country's biggest marine oil producer, ever since it was established in 1981.
Even though last year's oil spill in northern China's Bohai Bay drew nationwide criticism over the country's lax oversight on foreign oil companies' activities in offshore China, industrial experts reiterated that the cooperation will continue, in particular as the country taps into more challenging deepwater areas.
This year CNOOC announced a string of foreign cooperation projects in China's offshore areas, with the latest coming from its product-sharing contract with Austrian company Roc Oil Co this month.
The two companies inked the deal to jointly explore Bohai Bay's 09/05 block located 50 kilometers southeast of Tianjin. The move came a month after CNOOC's announcement that it would join hands with Italy's biggest energy conglomerate, Eni SpA, to explore the 30/27 deepwater block in the South China Sea.
Eni will conduct the three-dimension seismic survey and drill an exploration well in the 5,130 square kilometer block, which was offered for foreign cooperation last year.
Also in the South China Sea, BP Plc obtained approval from the Ministry of Commerce in February to farm the 43/11 deepwater gas block, holding a 40.8 percent working interest in the project during the exploration phase. Anadarko Petroleum Corp and CNOOC will hold 50 percent and 9.18 percent respectively.