国内英语新闻:Ugandan President meets Chinese oil giant amidst increased lobbying

KAMPALA, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni on Monday met officials of the China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) amidst increased lobbying by international oil giants to enter the country's oil sector.

A State House statement issued here said that the CNOOC officials who met Museveni at State House Entebbe, 40km south of the capital Kampala, expressed interest in joining Uganda's oil and gas sector by partnering up with Tullow, an Irish oil company.

Tullow, which has oil blocks in western Uganda, is seeking a partner to help it start oil production in the country.

The CNOOC meeting comes weeks after Italian oil giant, Eni Spa, also expressed interest in joining the country's oil sector, promising an oil refinery and a power plant.

Eni wants to enter the sector by buying stakes of another oil company Heritage Oil which jointly operates two blocks with Tullow on a 50-50 percent venture.

The Eni-Heritage deal which is yet to be concluded is embroiled in controversy as Tullow exercised a pre-emption move saying it has the first option to buy the Heritage stakes, a move the government said it would not accept because it would create a monopoly.

Museveni told the CNOOC officials joined by Tullow officials that the government will discuss all proposals and announce its decision soon.

"President Museveni said that the government will discuss all proposals by companies operating in the oil and gas sector adding that the country looks forward to welcoming new companies," the statement said.

The Museveni-CNOOC-Tullow meet also comes days after Aiden Heavey, Tullow's chief executive met Museveni urging Uganda to honor contractual obligations following the Eni-Heritage deal.

Uganda's recently discovered oil is attracting a lot of attention from international oil giants.

So far the country has discovered an estimated two billion barrels of oil and according to experts there is a possibility of discovering more.