BEIJING, Feb 18: A subsidiary of leading Chinese oil and gas producer China National Offshore Oil Company Ltd has signed a production-sharing contract for an offshore block in Equatorial Guinea, state media said on Saturday.

The five-year contract was signed on Friday by Equatorial Guinea’s mines ministry, national oil firm GEPetrol and CNOOC Africa Ltd., Xinhua news agency said, citing CNOOC sources.

It covers a block of about 2,287sqkms off the south coast of Equatorial Guinea with the waters ranging from 30 to 1,500 metres (99 to 4,950 feet) in depth.—AFP