The China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) is to invest an additional three billion dollars in its existing stakes in offshore oil and gas operations in Nigeria.

Mr Ndu Ughamadu, the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) spokesman said this in a statement on Sunday in Abuja.

Ughamadu said Mr Yuan Guangyu, the Chief Executive Officer of the Beijing-based Corporation, made the pledge when he led a team of CNOOC top executives on a visit to the NNPC.

Guangyu described its investment in Nigeria as the most strategic important overseas business undertaking and its largest investment destination. “He said CNOOC had invested more than 14 billion dollars in its Nigerian operations, even as he called on the management of the NNPC to seek common grounds of beneficial interest with CNOOC for enhanced productivity,’’ Ughamadu said.

The statement also quoted the Group Managing Director of NNPC, Dr Maikanti Baru as thanking CNOOC for its interest in the Nigerian oil and gas industry.

Baru said the corporation was open to new investments and would foster meaningful and mutually beneficial relations with credible entities like CNOOC.

Founded in 1982, the CNOOC which is one of the three big Chinese national oil entities is originally focused on offshore upstream exploration and production.

The China National Petroleum Corporation is involved in onshore upstream exploration while SINOPEC, the third of the tripod, is focused on refining and marketing.