35 foreign companies vie to develop Chinese oil
| Peking
Thirty-five foreign companies, about half of them American, have applied to take part in a first round of bidding for the right to develop China's offshore oil, the China National Offshore Oil Corporation said. The size of China's offshore reserves is unknown, but many experts believe they are considerable. The first round of bidding covers 41,400 square miles in the northern part of the South Yellow Sea.