As per the media reports, China National Offshore Oil Corp. (Coonc), the country's biggest offshore crude producer, is negotiating the acquisition of stakes in about 6 billion barrels of oil reserves in Nigeria.

A report by a well-known newspaper claimed, while citing a letter from the office of Nigerian President Umaru Yar'Adua, "The bid is for the equivalent of one in six barrels of the proven reserves in sub-Saharan Africa's largest oil producer, with 16 licenses up for renewal."

The report further claimed that since December, a sum of at least $13 billion on overseas assets was spent by Chinese energy companies, as the global slowdown lowered commodity prices.

Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Chevron Corp., Total SA and Exxon Mobil Corp., stand as main competitors for China National Offshore, which is trying to win the licenses from them.

Michael Yuk, an analyst at Sun Hung Kai Financial in Hong Kong, expressed: "This is part of the long-term trend among Chinese oil companies to secure resources. I can see increasing bids from Chinese companies for oil assets overseas."

The letter from the Nigerian President didn't specify the value of China National's offer for the Nigerian oil assets. However, there is a possibility for the offer to be as high as $50 billion.

A presidential spokesman said: "Nigeria is in talks with various other "stakeholders" in the oil industry and no decision had been made on the licenses."