06-03-09 China offshore oil specialist CNOOC said it will invest more than yuan 300 bn ($ 43.86 bn) in China's southern Guangdong province in the next five years.
CNOOC chairman Fu Chengyu said the investment would go mainly toward South China Sea exploration, Huizhou petrochemical projects and a natural gas pipeline. The size of the investment is bigger than the entire market value of CNOOC Ltd, which has a market capitalization of about $ 36.5 bn.

CNOOC said last year it would step up deepwater exploration in the South China Sea from 2009 and to invest yuan 200 bn ($ 29.24 bn) until the end of the next decade.
Fu also said Guangdong was a key base for CNOOC's future development.
($ 1 = yuan 6.840)