Offshore staff

(West Africa) - CNOOC Ltd.'s subsidiary, CNOOC Africa Ltd., has signed a production sharing contract (PSC) for block S with the Ministry of Mines, Industry and Energy, and The National Oil Co. of Equatorial Guinea.

Block S covers a total area of approximately 2,287 sq km in the south offshore Equatorial Guinea.

Water depth of the block ranges from 30 to 1,500 m.

The exploration period of the contract is five years and CNOOC Ltd. acts as the technical operator.

Under the terms of the contract, the company is committed to conduct seismic data interpretation and drilling exploration wells.

02/17/06