A venture of Agip (Overseas) Ltd. and Texaco China BV has increased its inventory of exploration acreage in Northwest China's vast Tarim basin.
The companies, 50-50 partners with Agip as operator, acquired rights to explore, develop, and produce oil and gas under the 3.5 million acre Block T6, known as the Minfeng block, and the 3.8 million acre Block T7, or Yutian block, in the southern part of the remote basin.
Their deal, disclosed last week, is with China National Petroleum Corp. The state owned company invited the joint venture to negotiate terms of the acreage acquisition after winding up China's third round of bidding for onshore blocks last November.
In an earlier deal, Agip and Texaco were members of a group that acquired petroleum rights to Block 1, an east offset to the contiguous Blocks T6 and T7.
Agip-Texaco's schedule calls for drilling on Block 1 before yearend 1996 and seismic surveys on Blocks T6 and T7 in 1997.
The latest deal boosts Texaco's Tarim basin holdings to interests in about 9.7 million acres, similar to the size of Switzerland.
William P. Doyle, Texaco Inc. vice-president, said, "Texaco's interest in the three contiguous Tarim blocks underscores the importance of the region in the company's focused worldwide exploration portfolio. Several recent discoveries in the Tarim basin reinforce our belief in the hydrocarbon potential of this region."
Texaco data show the basin spans 138 million acres. That makes it one of the largest underexplored onshore regions in China. The Taklimakin Desert, where temperatures can soar to 120 F., covers more than half of the basin.
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