China National Offshore Oil Corp (Cnooc), the country's third largest crude producer, is in the running for the latest Nigerian exploration and production licences, a spokesperson for the African country's presidential office has confirmed.

In a statement made to Bloomberg, Olusegun Adeniyi, a spokesperson for president Umara Yar'Adua, said that no final decision has yet been made on reissuing 16 licences which expired last year.

Cnooc has pledged to spend at least $16 billion to secure access to Africa's vast oil and gas reserves, a move which will challenge Shell, Chevron and ExxonMobil's predominance in the continent's oil and gas industry.

Gordon Kwan, an energy analyst at Mirae Asset Securities in Hong Kong, added: "Nigeria also offers a training ground for Cnooc's future move into deepwater oil and gas exploration in the South China Sea."

Cnooc has also invested heavily in training and development programmes to promote safety during exploration and production activities, building on the establishments of its five-point risk management strategy in 2006.

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